Safe & Sound
by SarcasticEnigma
Summary: "It's like you're screaming and no one can hear. You almost feel ashamed that someone could be that important. That, without them, you feel like nothing. No one will ever understand how much it hurts. You feel hopeless. Like nothing can save you. And, when it's over and it's gone, you almost wish you could have all that bad stuff back so that you could have the good." Rick/OC! R&R!
1. Prologue

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own _The Walking Dead _or any of its characters. I don't even own Annie, she belongs to Sophie, who you can find on YouTube under xSoppySofax. Her vids inspired this fic and has been written with her permission and she's read and approved of it herself. If you'd like to watch the vids, just go to her channel and find Safe & Sound or just search 'walking dead fanfiction annie' from the homepage; it'll be the third video to show up. I highly recommend subscribing to her channel as well, it's just full of beautiful and hysterical vids. Read on, darlings, and enjoy!

_**Safe & Sound**_

**Prologue**

Annie stood frozen in the middle of the street, uncertain and scared. To her immediate left, on the corner where the bus always picked up and dropped off kids for school, there was a walking corpse feasting on someone. She couldn't remember her name, but Annie did remember that she was the one who always brought the terrible casserole that nobody ate to book club. Now her intestines were spilled out on the sidewalk. To her right was Hannah. Annie didn't know the woman very well, just enough from neighborhood gossip that she was a divorced mother of two. Apparently, those two were missing because Hannah was running up the street screaming for them. Jaime. Billy. Jaime! BILLY! JAIME! Annie turned around, looking up the street and sighed. She needed to pack. Quickly.


	2. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own _The Walking Dead _or any of its characters. I don't even own Annie, she belongs to Sophie, who you can find on YouTube under xSoppySofax. Read on, darlings, and enjoy!

**Chapter 1**

Annie looked up as Morgan entered the house, Duane behind him. The surprise was that not only did he not come back with more food, but he was carrying a man over his shoulders. The stranger was unconscious and in a hospital gown. Duane quickly locked the door as Morgan passed her, heading upstairs with the man. Before she could even ask what happened, the ten year old boy explained that he'd smacked the man in the head with a shovel, mistaking him for one of the dead people. Quickly rushing up the stairs, she watched as Morgan laid the man down on the bed and set about washing his hands and pulling on Playtex gloves. The man's lower half was covered but the gown had been removed and that was when she saw it. He had a wound, one that still looked pretty fresh.

"What's that bandage for?" she asked, staring at the man cautiously, ready to strike if he rose up as one of _them_.

Shaking his head, Morgan answered, "Don't know."

"I'll take a look."

"No," he said and motioned for her to leave. "Just restrain him and stay with Duane. I got this." Reluctantly, she nodded and set about tying the man to bed with some bedsheets from the closet. When it was done, Duane was peeking from the doorway and she quietly led him back downstairs.

"Come on. Keep me company while I keep watch," she told him. "Your dad knows what he's doing. He's gonna be just fine."

"Promise?" Looking down at him, she smiled grimly. Who could promise safety in the world now?

"Promise."

* * *

Morgan had told them about the man, how he'd woken up and said his wound had been a gunshot. Just a gunshot. All of them were confused by the stranger, how he didn't seem to know what was going on. When Morgan had asked him about whether or not he'd been bit or scratched, the man looked at him like he was crazy. Later than night, Annie ambled quietly up the room with a candle. Downstairs, Morgan and Duane were fixing their meager meal, whispering to one another, so that left her with checking on their guest. She peered into the room and quietly entered, pulling a chair to the bed and sat down. She pulled out a big hunting knife, ready, and set the candle on the nightstand. Reaching out a hand towards the man's face, she looked at him as he flinched away.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," she told him, quietly. The man settled and she nodded slowly, putting her hand on his forehead. "You're cool," she said, eyes locked with his. "Fever would've killed you by now."

"I don't think I have one."

"No. Be hard to miss." Annie raised her knife, giving the man a hard look as he flinched away from her again. "Take a moment. Take a good long look. You try anything, I'll kill you with it. Don't think I won't." The man absorbed that and nodded, which she returned before slicing through his restraints and freeing his wrists. The man brought his hands shakily to his chest, no feeling in them. "Can you sit up?"

"Ah, God..."

"I'll take that as a "no"," she said, smirking a little, and helped him sit up. "What's your name?"

"Rick. Rick Grimes."

Nodding, she replied, "Nice to meet you. I'm Annie Stone."

Once she had him up and wrapped in a blanket, Annie told him to come downstairs whenever he felt ready and left him on his own. Downstairs, Morgan and Duane had lit more candles and the father was standing at the table, stirring a pot over sterno-warmers while the son was pouring bottle water into tumblers. Morgan looked at her and she nodded, which he returned. The silent confirmation that the stranger was alive, really alive, and well. Not long after, their guest emerged, moving slowly, drifting as he looked around. Apparently, he knew the house, had been there before, it belonged to friends of his that lived a few doors up from his own home. Morgan explained to him that it was empty when they got there, assuring him that they'd done nothing to his friends. Not that it mattered because, in Annie's mind, they were probably already dead.

"Picked it because of the small windows. Easier to board up," Morgan explained. Rick looked around, at the blanket duct-taped over the front window. He touched it, feeling the boards nailed across the window underneath. He could hear the distant groaning outside, they all could. He reached to pull the blanket down but Morgan called to him, "Don't. They'll see the light." Rick turned to see the trio watching him warily. "There's more of them out there than usual. I shouldn't have fired that shot today. Sound draws them. Now they're all over our street."

"Not your fault," Annie assured him as they all took their seats.

"Stupid, using the gun. Happened too fast, I didn't think."

"Which is why it's not your fault," she reiterated. Morgan ladled canned stew into bowl and slid it toward the empty chair, motioning for Rick to join them.

"You didn't think?"

"No. I should have used the baseball bat instead. My mistake." Rick stared at him. "What?"

"You shot a man today."

""Man"?" The trio traded a quizzical look.

"Weren't no man," Duane told him and Morgan scolded him. "It _wasn't _a man," he corrected. Rick stared at them. A man who committed murder is calmly correcting his son's grammar. Surreal.

"I saw you. You shot him. In the street out front. A man."

"You need glasses, friend. It was a walker." Morgan nodded to the chair, telling him to sit down before he fell down. Rick gave in, sitting across Morgan, Duane on his right and Annie on his left. Once their meager meal was blessed, Duane dug while Rick just continued to look at them. Annie looked at him, motioning to the silverware. Eat, was her silent command. Rick picked up the spoon uneasily, his hands still not fully working. "And you. Damn fool. Just sittin' on a porch like it's any sunny day. You even _waved _to it. Jesus."

"You waved at a walker?" Annie asked curiously, trying not to laugh. But Morgan wasn't laughing. He was watching Rick take a few bites. It suddenly dawned on him that the man across from him just might be every bit as clueless as he seemed.

"Mister? What's wrong with you?" He paused. "You even know what's going on?"

"I woke up today. In the hospital. Came home. That's all I know." The trio around him traded another looked. Morgan asked him if he knew about the dead people. "Saw a lot of that. Stacked like firewood, out on the loading dock. Piled in trucks. Even tossed down the stairwell."

"Not the ones they put down," Morgan corrected him. "The one's they didn't."

"The other ones," Duane added.

""Other ones"," Rick echoed, clueless.

"The walkers." Rick stared at Morgan, not comprehending. "Like the one I shot. He'd have ripped into you. Tried to eat you. Taken some flesh at least. That's what they do." Annie looked at Rick sympathetically. He was completely flabbergasted, not knowing what to say. "If this is the first you're hearing it, I guess I know how it must sound."

"Insane," was Rick's immediate response. "I saw a...woman. In the park today. She...looked at me. Reached out." Morgan nodded without question, continuing to eat. "They're out there now? In the street?"

"They get more active after dark sometimes. Maybe it's the cool air. Or, hell, maybe it's just me firing that damn gun today." Annie shook her head at him. "Should be fine, long as we stay quiet and they don't figure out we're in here. They'll probably wander off by morning." Rick searched each of their faces, trying to make sense of it.

"They were saying on the news that it was some kind of virus," Annie told him. "They were guessing. There was a whole lot of that going on. All those experts looking scared. Then the broadcasts stopped. That's the last we heard. That was a few weeks ago." She watched Rick as he absorbed this. "One thing we _do _know for certain? Don't get bit. We saw your bandage, that's what we were afraid of, why you were tied up."

"I don't understand."

Annie sighed and explained, "The bite kills you. You get a fever and that burns you out. But, after awhile, you come back. And you're hungry." Rick had been about to take a bit of his stew and hesitated, forcing himself to take the bit.

"Seen in happen," Duane told him quietly.

* * *

In the living room, Annie helped Rick, who they'd discovered was a police officer, settle onto a bare mattress on the floor. She handed him another blanket and even a sleeping bag. It's unbelievable to him, that a stranger is so trusting – now, at least – and welcoming. He looked at Duane, tucked against his father's side, sleeping fitfully after a good cry over his mother. Annie carried a candle over to the window and sat down in a chair. She was keeping watch. Morgan called to her softly and he nodded towards her bed. Silently, she rose and blew out the candle and undid the safety pins, looking out the slit one last time. The street was dark, walkers moving around aimlessly. All clear. She re-pinned the blanket and walked to her bed, beside Rick, and settled down. These people, they didn't have to take him in, tend to his wound, feed him, let him stay. They could have just left him for dead, let him find out the horrible truth of the world all on his own. But they didn't. Outside, he heard weird groans, occasional distant snarls, thumps. He looked at Annie and, feeling eyes on her, she looked over at him.

"First night off in awhile. Maybe I'll get some real sleep," she joked quietly, cracking a smirk at Rick.

Seriously, he whispered to her, "How did you find them?" Smile gone, she looked over at the sleeping father and son.

"I didn't," she answered. "We found each other." Rick waited, expecting her to tell him more. But she didn't. "You should get some rest. Gonna be a long day tomorrow, teaching you how to survive." She settled into her sleeping bag and closed her eyes with a sigh.

"Thank you." Annie rolled her head and looked at him with a small smile.

"No problem."


	3. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own _The Walking Dead _or any of its characters. I don't even own Annie, she belongs to Sophie, who you can find on YouTube under xSoppySofax. Read on, darlings, and enjoy!

One: I forgot to mention this before, but I'm going to be updating every Sunday, like the show. I might even take a massive break in-between seasons just to annoy! Well, not annoy but just to keep in tone with the show lol Two: thank you, Bloodrope and x-shmanda-x, for your reviews. Bloodrope, if you mean Morgan and Annie's past, we decided to go into that very briefly but, with Morgan's reappearence - which had me screaming with joy - we might go deeper but that'd be for Season 3. Yes, x-shmanda-x, Sophie's vids are absolutely amazing. Besides all the Annie vids, my favorite is probably the PotWD: Predators vid.

**Chapter 2**

The following morning, everyone was cautious as they emerged from the house. Nobody seemed to get much sleep. All of them had a weapon in hand, for Morgan it was crowbar and Duane his shovel, Rick borrowed Morgan's bat but Annie kept her big hunting knife on her. They watched and waited as Rick hesitantly approached a walker on the lawn. As soon as the monster saw them coming, it heaved itself up and lurched to its feet but Rick was faster. Without pause, he hauled off and split its skull with a few brutal strokes of the bat. The walker collapsed, feet twitching until finally going still. Rick was breathing hard, pausing to see how he felt about what he'd just done.

"You okay?" Annie asked, a hand on his shoulder.

Rick nodded slowly and quietly told her, "I don't feel a thing."

"Yeah, that's to be expected." He looked at her and she shrugged helplessly. "If you don't kill them, they'll kill you. Just think of it as self-defense. Justifiable homicide, Sheriff." Chuckling under his breath, Rick nodded and the group moved down the street and Morgan informed him on some more basics. Like how, if the walkers couldn't find a fresh kill, they'd just eat one of their own, weaker ones. As they approached Rick's block, he pointed out his house and asked if they'd seen anybody there.

"Area was pretty deserted by the time we got here. Saw a few folks scurry out, a few last holdouts. But not that house," Morgan told him. Rick let that sit for a moment before leading the way into his home, stopping to look around at the wreckage that used to be his home.

"They're alive. My wife and son." Morgan, doubtful, looked around. "At least, they were when they left..."

"How can you know? By the look of this place..."

"I found empty drawers in the bedroom. They packed some clothes. Not a lot, but enough to travel." Morgan hesitated a moment before telling him as gently as possible that anyone could have broken in and stolen clothes. Rick gazed at the walls, shaking his head. "See the framed photos on the walls?" Morgan and Annie looked at the walls but saw nothing. "Neither do I. Some _random_ thief take those too, you think?" Rick abruptly crossed to a cabinet, rummaging wildly. "Our photo albums, family pictures, all gone." Annie looked around and spotted one framed picture left behind, knocked over. Picking it up, she turned it over and saw it was a family portrait, Rick was smile beside a dark haired woman and little boy that looked about Duane's age stood in front of them. She couldn't explain why but, as she stared at it, she frowned a little. Maybe it was because he wasn't wearing a wedding ring. If he was really married, where was his ring?

"Photo albums..." Morgan shook his head in wonder, sinking onto the arm of the couch and laughed. "My wife. Same thing. There I am packing survival gear, she's grabbing photo albums." He laughed until he cried, wiping his tears away when Duane appeared in the doorway.

"They're in Atlanta, I bet." Morgan considered this moment and nodded, telling his son he was right.

"If they got out of here okay, they're in Atlanta," Annie tried to assure him.

"Why there?"

"Refugee center," she answered, putting the picture back, face down. "A huge one, they said, before the broadcasts stopped. Military protection. Food. Shelter. They told people to go there, said it'd be safest."

"Plus they got that disease place," Duane added and Morgan told Rick that that Center for Disease for Control had said they'd been working on a cure. Rick absorbed all this, feeling hope stirring in him for the first time since he woke up. He walked into the kitchen and opened a cabinet, pulling a set off keys of a hook.

"We need to make one more stop," he told them.

* * *

At the police station, Rick unlocked the back door and led them inside. Morgan and Duane were carrying rifles and clean stacks of clothes while Annie held her handgun at her side, backpack hanging from her shoulders. Once they were all in, Rick closed and bolted the door behind them. The place was deserted, messy but not trashed. Some vending machines were broken open. On the counter, there was a molding pot of coffee, a tray of fossilized donuts. Annie almost cracked a cop joke but kept silent, following as they made their way through the halls. Past offices and silent cubicles. Where was Rick leading them?

"Back there," he said with a nod. They entered the locker room, rows of lockers, several shower stalls. Rick approached one of the stalls and turned the handle, put his hand under water. Morgan told him that the gas lines had been down for maybe a month. He turned to them, smiling at their hopeful faces. "Station's got its own propane system. Pilot's still on." Hot water? Annie laughed as Duane immediately rushed to one and started stripping down.

"I'll wait till you guys finish," she said and wandered back into the hallway.

"There's a woman's locker room. I can show you—"

"I'll just wait. Best not to split up," she told him. Rick nodded and went back inside. From her place in the hall, she could hear the water running and hear the joyful hollering from Morgan and Duane. For the first time in a long time, she really smiled. Nothing sardonic or sarcastic, not a small or weak one, but a real big, full smile. As soon as the men were out, she rushed in and started her shower on full-blast, steam billowing. She lathered and shampooed like crazy, laughing and crying all at once under the steady stream of water. Annie couldn't help but let out a joyous yelp, laughing and just letting the hot water run over her.

She walked into the gun closet later, dressed in fresh clothes she found in a locker. Rick looked up at her and nodded, pulling out some shotguns and a few sidearms. Nothing fancy, just leftovers. A lot of it was missing, he told them, as he passed them to Morgan who laid them out of a blanket. Duane wanted to know if he could learn to shoot, reasoning that he was old enough, and his father assured him he'd learn but carefully, to respect the weapon. Rick told him that a gun was not a toy that, if he pulled the trigger, he had to mean it, to always remember that. When Rick found a bolt-action rifle with a scope, he handed it to Morgan. Though Duane was busy eying the guns, Annie didn't miss the moment of eye contact. It was weapon of choice specifically for Morgan's wife, so he could finally put her to rest at a distance; Annie admired the officer all the more in that moment. She'd been lucky, she knew, in finding Morgan, a good man who helped her when he didn't have to.

It seemed there were others like him. There were still good men left in the world.

* * *

"Conserve your ammo. Goes faster than you think, especially at target practice," Rick told them as they headed towards the cars. Each of them was toting a blanket of weapons. "Find yourself a nice open field where they can't sneak up on you." They came to a dirty Ford Explorer parked near a few police cruisers, one of which Rick unlocked and laid his duffel and weapon in. at the Explorer, Duane was doing the same thing. "Sure you won't come along?"

"A few more days. By then, Duane'll know how to shoot and I won't be so rusty. Improves our chances on the road." Rick thought a moment before ducking into the car, pulling out a walkie-talkie. He turned it on a moment, getting a healthy dose of static, before turning it off and handing it to Morgan.

"You got one battery. I'll turn mine on a few minutes every day at dawn. You get up there, that's how you find me."

"You think ahead," Morgan commented.

"Can't afford not to. Not anymore."

"Listen, one thing. They may not seem like much, one at a time. But in a group? All riled up and hungry? Man, you watch your ass."

"You, too."

Offering his hand, Morgan said, "You're a good man, Rick. I hope you find your wife and son." They shook and Duane said his goodbyes as well, promising Rick he'd take care of his father, when his gaze shifted suddenly. All of them looked and saw a walker on the other side of the chain link fence, watching them. It approached and stopped at the fence, clinging to it, fingers poking through, starting to shake it and moaning. Sickened, Rick unholstered his gun, telling them it was Leon Basset, a rookie he didn't think much of because he was careless and dumb.

"I can't leave him like this," he told them.

"You know, they'll hear the shot," Morgan warned him.

"Let's not be here when they show up." Morgan nodded and backed off as Rick took a breath and quickly, before he could change his mind, strode to the fence. He pressed the gun through the chain link, prepared to fire when Annie pulled him back. Without a word, she pulled out her knife and jammed it through Leon's dead eye, pulling it back as he crumpled to the ground. The men stared at her.

"You just said don't waste ammo," she pointed out. Chuckling under his breath, Rick nodded and, with nothing more to say, the men headed to their separate cars.

"Annie?" Duane called, waiting for her to join him and his father. She stood frozen, staring at Rick, before sighing.

"I'm going with you," she told him and he looked at a moment, eyes locked, before nodding. He turned his attention back to the car, allowing her a moment with Morgan and Duane. "I can't thank you enough for—"

"Don't start that," Morgan interjected with a small smile. He held out his hand and she took it, shaking it firmly. "Don't die," he advised.

Cracking a smile, she replied, "You, too." Kneeling down, she looked at Duane, who was frowning at her. "You protect your old man now, you hear? Can you do that for me?"

"Yeah," he answered quietly. "Will we see you again?"

Sighing, she pulled him into a tight hug. "I don't know."

"I'm gonna miss you, Annie."

"I'm gonna miss you, too, Duane. You stay safe, okay? Stay sharp."

"Okay."

She silently slid into the passenger seat, stowing her pack in the back with the duffel and nodded at Rick. With a final wave from Duane and a honk of both car's horns, they were on their way. They drove in silence, Annie staring out at the suburbs and Rick at the road until he pulled over at the park. She asked what he was doing but he just told her to wait there for him. She watched as Rick walked under the sun-dappled leaves, searching for something. He'd only been gone a few minutes when she heard the gunshot ring out and jumped out of the cruiser. Grabbing her gun, she rushed into the park intent of finding Rick, making sure he was safe, alive. When she found him, she asked him what the hell he was doing.

"Just something I had to take care of," he answered and headed back to the cruiser without another word. Confused, she followed him and they went back to traveling up the highway, Rick speaking into his radio, waiting for a response. But nothing came.


	4. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own _The Walking Dead _or any of its characters. I don't even own Annie, she belongs to Sophie, who you can find on YouTube under xSoppySofax. Read on, darlings, and enjoy!

It's a quarter to midnight, so I am not late! Sorry, everyone, been a massively busy day. I was up at quarter after four this morning, left for work at 5:30, worked 6-1:30, then I went straight to a 2 o'clock movie with my dad, then to my sister's house to support her ItWorks party, then to a friends for the _Shameless_ finale and _Game of Thrones_. At last, here it is, just for all of you loyal few!

Bloodrope: Sophie and I have agreed to stick with the show, given its much broader fan base. Both of us have devoured the comics though, so we'll be throwing in bits from them - mostly in season 3 - that the shows writers left out. Not their fault, really. There's only so much they can allow on basic cable. I'll admit, just like in the show, I don't think the story really picks up until after Rick gets back to the campsite. That'll come up soon. Literally, the next chapter so just bear with me!

x-shmanda-x: Don't worry! I literally have the whole first two seasons written out and completed. Sophie is working on a vid for season 3, a second part to it, and then I can actually start writing season 3. But I have seasons 1 and 2 all done, I think it's 25 or 26 chapters.

**Chapter 3**

Annie looked out the window, staring at the endless vista that was the Georgia landscape. Beautiful, checker boarded farmland, rolling hills, blazing blue skies, drifting clouds. The highway, she remembered, was always clean and well-maintained and typically empty. But not today, probably not since the whole mess started. There was a huge sprawl of abandoned cars. It looked like the worlds biggest and most disorganized used car lot. Vehicle's spilled out onto the road and even into the surrounding fields. What worried her was the fact that there was nothing moving at all. Nothing to disturb the silence. Nothing. Except for her and her new companion, Rick Grimes, the man who miraculously woke up from a coma to a world gone to hell.

She looked over at him. Rick was keeping one eye on the gauge and the other on the highway. Not that it mattered, because they were literally the only car on the road, the only thing moving at all. She glanced over as he resumed calling out for help on his radio; the needle on the gas gauge was dipping low. He was unusual, not what she expected of an officer. After a shower, Annie expected him to be spit-and-polish but he wasn't. He was haggard, exhausted, unshaven. He shielded his eye against the sun and spotted a gas station. Giving up on the radio, he clicked it off and hung it back up. Up ahead though, he saw the station and pulled in quietly, weaving slowly among the cars until Rick stopped and cut the engine.

"I can't get any closer." It was true, the pumps were hemmed in tight. Rick and Annie stepped out, the latter pulling out her hunting knife. It was deeply, eerily quiet. The only sounds were the breeze, the faint droning of flies, and a scrawled sign flapping idly on string: "NO GAS".

Looking around warily, she told him, "We should get back in the car."

"Why? Without gas, it'll be useless soon enough anyway."

"That doesn't mean we can just walk around. It's not safe."

"Morgan said they're more active at night. We've got plenty of time before dark."

"Just because they go bump in the night doesn't mean they aren't around during the day," she argued pointedly. Rick started to walk away, awed by the quiet and sense of desolation that surrounded them. Annie rolled her eyes and reluctantly followed him. He noticed things, laundry here and there, hung on lines among the cars. Old campfires. Luggage strewn. Empty cans. A few tents. Sheets duct taped to the sides of cars to make lean-to shelters.

"The people who were here tried to stick out for a while," he realized. God only know what happened to them, he thought.

"Maybe they moved on," she replied softly, trying to give him some small amount of comfort. But no, not all. It registered to Rick then. There were bodies in the cars, corpses slumped, heads leaning against windows. Hard to tell how many. Rick stopped.

"Jesus..." He couldn't believe it. People died waiting in the fucking cars, a realization that was hard to take. The silence, the desolation, the decay. "Let's go." He turned to leave but there was a sound, something new, a shuffling. Rick was drawn to it, straining to hear. There's noting for a moment but then he heard it again, a few rows over.

"We should go. Now," she whispered but Rick ignored her, dropping to his belly to look under the cars. He glimpsed a pair of bunny slippers a few rows over, pale and dirty ankles. A child, a little girl. The feet shuffle along, desultory. In the heat, the poor conditions, they'd be malnourished and dazed. The slippers came to a filthy teddy bear on the ground and he watched as a little hand reached down and picked it up before shuffling on. "Rick, we need to leave." Heart racing, Rick rose and weaved among the cars. He tried to catch sight of her, knowing he had to rescue her but not wanting to scare her. He came around a car, catching a brief glimpse as she moved out of sight. Annie stopped beside him but rolled her eyes as he took off again, following after him. He ran faster, desperate not to lose the child. He came around some more cars and saw her just up ahead.

"Little girl. Little girl," he called gently. The girl slowed and stopped as Annie stood beside him, Rick gesturing for her to be quiet. The little girl was filthy, badly matted hair, vulnerable. "I'm a policeman. I'll help you. Don't be afraid, okay?"

"Rick—"

"Little girl?"

The girl turned, staring at him with deep, sunken eyes. Her flesh was drawn tight on her bones, lips torn away, leaving just a snarl of teeth. Annie grimaced at the sight of the child's braces, clots of decayed meat caught in the metal. She's dead, Rick realized. Not sick, not dressed up for Halloween. Dead. A hungry glare swam in her eyes, the closest thing the walkers ever got to an actual thought, and she moved toward them down the row of abandoned cars. Annie raised her knife but Rick just held out his arm, making her back up with him. He was numb as he unsnapped his holster, hand on the butt of his service revolver. The girl broke into a shambling, snarling run and he pulled out his .357 Colt Python. The girl got closer and BLAM! The gunshot snapped her head back in a halo of dark, viscous fluid. The child was thrown back, a bunny slipper flying off, crumbling pathetically, her teddy bear bouncing and tumbling to a stop in the dirt. While Rick stood horrified at what he just had to do, Annie gazed around and, realizing Rick's mistake, grasped his arm. The corpses in the cars, they were rousing at the sound of the gunshot. Their faces reared up, heads swiveled and eyes gleamed as they stared at Rick and Annie. There were too many.

"Shit," she muttered. A door creaked open, then another. A few are already crawling, slithering closer to them. Rick grabbed Annie's arm and hauled ass back to the cruiser, walkers appearing in the rows around them. The two jumped into the car, started the engine and backed out fast. A walker appeared at Rick's window, clawing at the glass but Rick accelerated away. Annie waited a beat before telling him, "Told you not to stop."

Rick looked at her, "Don't start." She couldn't help but laugh under her breath.

* * *

"I was on my way to Atlanta," Annie spoke up suddenly. Rick looked over at her. "I heard about the refugee center, but I got overrun and then I got stuck. So I was scavenging, looking for supplies, a better house to crash in for a few days before I was ready to head out. I was in a little mart getting food, what was left, and heard something. Turned a corner and there was Morgan and Duane." Rick looked over at her from the wheel, realizing that she was finally telling him how the trio that had saved him had "found each other". "Once we realized we were all alive, we calmed down. Then the walkers showed up, out of nowhere, and we just ran back to Morgan's house. I'd been with them ever since. I couldn't leave them, never had a reason to." Because she had been too scared to go alone, she reminded herself. Sighing, she looked him in the eye and added, "Until _you_ showed up."

"Why'd you come with me?" he asked curiously, desperate.

Annie shrugged and answered, "You said you were going to Atlanta." She turned away from him and Rick nodded, understanding her logic. He was a means to an end, at least that's what he figured. "Besides," she said with a smile, "it's not safe for anyone to be alone."

"You have family there?" Annie frowned and didn't answer, refusing to look at him. Rick took in her silence and nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault." The cruiser came up the road, sputtering and slowing down, jerking to a stop on fumes. Silence, just the engine ticking in the heat. Annie pulled at her hair, trying not to scream in frustration, as Rick got out. Following his lead, she reached in the back and slung her pack over her shoulder as he did the same with the duffel of weapons. Popping the truck, he pulled out a gas can and they started walking down the highway. "I can't believe you're still trying to find gas," she remarked after a long moment of silence with a shake of her head.

"You got a better idea?" he asked , adjusting the duffel that was slowly getting heavier.

"Yeah. Stop."

"I can't stop!" he snapped at her, whipping around. "I have to find—"

"No, I mean, stop." She pointed across the field and he looked. A farm house. Smirking, she patted his shoulder and started to cross the field, Rick following after her, shaking his head and smiling. As they approached, he called up, stating he was a police officer and asking to borrow some gas. He motioned for Annie to wait as he moved to the front door, knocking on it. Nothing, it was dead quiet. She shrugged as they circled around the house, peering into windows. Annie found an empty kitchen, Rick found the family sprawled out in the parlor, dead, all of them shot in the head. "You find something?"

"Don't—!"

"Jesus!" she gasped, looking at the scene. Scrawled in blood on the walls, above the dead family, it read: "God forgive us". She turned away, shaken, and Rick followed after her, rubbing her back soothingly. The two moved around the farm until they spotted a pickup truck near the barn. It was unlocked, but no keys. The two looked back at the house, nauseated at the idea of having to go in there and look. But then they heard a noise, a whinny, and found a lone horse not far from them, eating grass. As they approached cautiously, trying not to spook the animal, Rick with rope coiled around his hand, it shied away and stared at them.

"Easy now, easy. Not gonna hurt you. Nothing like that. More like a...proposal." The animal just stared at Rick, who eased ever closer. "Atlanta's just down the road a ways. It's safe there. Food, shelter, people. Other horses, too, I bet. How's that sound?" Annie covered her snigger with her hand, watching as he stepped up and the horse let him gently slip the rope over its head. A good start. Soon enough, the horse was saddled and ready to go. He cautiously got his foot in the stirrup, waiting to see how the horse would react. It waited patiently. Satisfied, Rick swung himself up into the saddle and relaxed. "Your turn," he said, holding his hand out for Annie.

"Can't believe I'm gonna ride off into the sunset on a horse with a cop," she muttered. "It's like a bad country western movie."

"Sheriff Deputy," he corrected with a grin.

"Oh, forgive me," she replied sarcastically, taking his hand and allowing him to haul her up behind him. Nervous, Annie wrapped her arms around his waist as he gently prodded the horse. "This isn't so bad."

"Never been on a horse before?"

"Not for a very long time."

"Same," he told her. "Let's go easy, okay? I haven't done this for years." he told the horse and Annie pressed her forehead into his back, sniggering. It started off so nice, easy and pleasant, just a nice slow walk. The horse seemed to have other idea though. It must have been awhile since she was ridden and turned the walk into a trot, then a canter. Rick tried to make the horse slow down but soon enough they were in a full gallop and all they could do was hang on. Luckily, Rick got into the rhythm of being in the saddle and started to enjoy it too, swept up by an unexpected joy that made him laugh. Annie, however, just buried her face in his back and gripped him tight, telling him to let her know when it was over.

* * *

"Holy God."

Rick grimly rode the horse up at a slow walk, stopping and gazing off. Atlanta was before them. Skyscrapers loomed like silent tombstones. Several were just charred husks, having caught fire at some point and simply burned out of control until the fires died. Rick, Annie and the horse were standing on the freeway, the lanes going into the city were completely empty but the lanes heading out were choked with thousands of abandoned vehicles. There were many wrecks in evidence, doors hanging open, fenders crumpled, windshields smashed. Everybody tried to leave at once, some ran out of gas, some had accidents, and what they were looking at was the end result: an endless river of dead metal.

Rick spurned the spooked horse forward, into Atlanta. They rode slow down the empty street. Windows were smashed, cars overturned, trash and debris everywhere. Even a helicopter and a tank sat mutely in the street, muzzle aimed at the sky. The corpse of a soldier was sprawled across the turret where he was killed and eaten, crows picking at his remains. It made Annie sick and she buried her face into Rick's back, taking some comfort when he gently rubbed her arm around his waist. There were other corpses, all eaten. They were slaughtered here, torn apart days or weeks ago. Walkers appeared here and there, peering out of broken windows, straggling out of doorways, emerging from abandoned city buses. They started to follow Rick and Annie on their horse, which Rick pushed into a trot and easily outdistanced them. The horse was nervous.

"It's all right, boy," he soothed the horse, patting his neck. "Steady. It's just a few. Nothing we can't outrun."

Suddenly, they heard a noise. It was a distant rumble that came and went teasingly. Rick reigned the horse up, stopping to listen. Silence. The two kept listening, holding their breath, wondering if they'd imagined it. But then it came back, a distant rumble. For a moment, the sound was distinct. A helicopter? Rick reigned back, trying to track the sound as it echoed from various directions, bouncing off buildings. Both of them were craning in the saddle, desperate, until they finally saw it. It was fast and a fleeting glimpse between buildings, there and gone in an instant, but it was definitely a helicopter.

"Hyah!" Rick shouted, spurning the horse to a gallop racing in that direction. He rode hard, following the sound, veering around a corner at a full gallop only to pull back in shock, cold fear slamming through him.

The street was filled with walkers, not just some stragglers like before, but dozens and all their dead eyes were on them, hungry. The mass surged toward them, an animal frenzy. Rick turned the horse around and galloped back around the corner but the dead were surging from that direction, too. The horse panicked and reared, nearly throwing the pair off but they held on as it bolted toward the tank. Walkers closed in on all directions, the horse plowing into them as they grabbed and clawed. Annie fumbled with the duffel, trying to pull the shotgun but the horse reared in circles, getting swarmed and the two were thrown, landing hard on the pavement. Rick tried to get to the duffel but Annie grabbed him, scrambling and pulling him back in terror across the pavement. She could hear the horse, screaming as it disappeared into a seething mass of the snarling dead but there were more pressing matters. More than a few saw her and Rick and were coming for them. They rushed towards the tank, trying to get away and, just as they lunged for them, they rolled under the tank.

Annie screamed in terror as a walker grabbed her ankle, holding onto Rick. While he pulled her, she kicked free and kept crawling but there was no escape. They were trapped by the tank treads on either side. A dark tunnel was what they were in now, the only escape at the back or front and both were swarmed with walkers. Rick pulled out his gun and Annie her trusty knife, their only weapons. Rick fired twice in front of him while Annie stabbed through the skulls of the dead coming up behind them. Rick fired three more times behind her, covering her face and ears against his chest. It wasn't doing any good though. The walkers were closing in on them, far outnumbering the bullets.

Rick looked down at Annie, panting, and knew in that horrible moment that they're both dead. He could see in her eyes that she knew it, too. She knew just as well as him that there was no way they'd get out of this alive. And they both knew that there was no chance in hell they'd let themselves get torn apart. Annie nodded as he put the gun to his head, a silent deal that he'd go first and she'd follow. Rick collapsed, rolling onto his back and pulling her with him, apologizing to his wife and son. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Annie grabbed his hand and pointed above them. An open belly hatch. Hope renewed, he scrambled to his knees and pushed Annie in first before following, walkers snarling and clawing as he pulled his legs up and slammed the hatch in their faces.

The two sat there a moment, hearts pounding and minds racing. They leaned against the bulkhead, trying to catch their breath. Annie looked around, trying to find something that would help and spotted the dead soldier, slumped over. She stared as the soldier turned his head and looked at them. Her breath broke out in quick pants, panicked, as they stared at each other. The soldier started to lean forward when BLAM! The last bullet in Rick's gun, stunningly loud in the steel confines, snapped the soldiers head back, leaving a halo of blood on the walls. The gun shot echoed and Rick cringed as the ringing in his ears. Fuck, big mistake. Annie's head is pounding as she covers her ears, shaking her head, trying to make the feeling of being in a vacuum disappear.

Rick looked up and saw the upper turret hatch was open; if the walkers got in up there, they were dead. Groggy and dazed, he leaned over Annie and grabbed the dead soldier's sidearm, a NATO-approved 9mm Colt automatic. Pushing himself to his feet, unsteady, Rick started up the ladder toward the hatch. Eyes on that round hole of daylight above, dread filled him as he got closer. A face appeared and he thrust the Colt forward, firing. He barely heard the shot, just a muffle. The face disappeared, falling away, as Rick put his head through the hatch. He could see the duffel lying there, weapons scattered amongst the walkers. Even worse, his walkie-talkie, the one he promised Morgan he'd turn on every morning at dawn. Walkers swarmed the tank, climbing to get to him and he could hear them now, their grunts, snarls and moans. Reaching up, he pulled the hatch down just as dead hands appeared.

Once the hatch was locked, he slid back down and dropped heavily onto the floor. Annie was shaking like a leaf, terrified but trying to hide it as she smiled at him. He nodded at her, trying to catch his breath, really trying this time. They were safe, for the moment. Slowly, she crawled over to him and collapsed against him and he put his arm around her shoulder, hugging her as they leaned heavily on the bulkhead. Both were spent. The only good things about their current situation was that Annie still had her pack and their hearing was returning; they could hear their own breathing in the silence of the tank. And the sounds just outside. A pensive silence fell over them as they glanced around, hopeless. They were alive but both knew the tank would very likely become their tomb. Listless, Rick raised the Colt and ejected the mag to check it. A full load of rounds. Shoving the mag back in, he considered what to do, sitting there awhile, numb.

A soft crack of static. A voice.

"Hey, you. Dumbasses. Hey, you guys in the tank. You cozy in there?"

Rick turned his head, stunned, and Annie leaned forward in shock.

The radio!


	5. Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own _The Walking Dead _or any of its characters. I don't even own Annie, she belongs to Sophie, who you can find on YouTube under xSoppySofax. Read on, darlings, and enjoy!

I felt like chapter 4 and 5 were pretty short, which seems really unfair when you think about it. You guys only get one chapter a week! Two short chapters in two weeks? Not fair, so I just decided to post them both. Hppe you like 'cause this is where things really start moving forward!

**Chapter 4**

Annie sat in the passenger seat of the van, leaning back and eyes closed, rethinking the past couple hours of her new adventurous life.

The voice over the radio told them straight that they were surrounded by an ocean of walkers, that was the bad news. The good news? There was none. His advice was to make a run for it. Glenn, as they found was his name, assured them that it wasn't a dumb idea since they had him, eyes on the outside. He told them that the street on the other side of the tank was less crowded, since most of the walkers were still feasting on their horse. If they moved then and there, they stood a chance. Rick wanted to know about the duffel but it simply wasn't an option. So, with the soldier's gun and grenade Rick found, plus a shovel, and Annie's own knife and Beretta, they had something. Rick went first, bashing the lone walker on top the tank across the face. They jumped off the right side of the tank and ran for an alley about fifty yards away, Rick shooting in front while Annie covered him from behind. Rick never let her leave his sight for too long, grabbing hold of her free hand with his own and pulling her along.

When they reached the designated alley, Rick almost shot their radio friend, Glenn the Korean kid, who shouted that he wasn't dead and led them up a ladder and inside a department store. It was there they met a few of his group and none of them were happy to see them. One of them, Andrea, almost shot Rick. Almost, because another man, Morales, told her to back off and Annie held a gun at Andrea's head as well. Apparently, they were volunteers of a larger group who risked coming into the city to scavenge supplies. Of course, their easy in-and-out was ruined when Rick and Annie showed up guns blazing. They'd rung the dinner bell. One other person contributed to that, however, and that was Merle Dixon. He'd been on the roof, shooting at random walkers below until he nearly beat another survivor, T-Dog, to death and almost shot him before Rick finally handcuffed him to a pipe.

They'd planned to get out through the sewers, since the streets were swarmed, but that wasn't an option as Glenn and Morales found out. Not only was the way barred off – it would've taken a blow torch and half a day to get through the bars – but it was filled with walkers, eating the rats. Then the walkers at the front doors of the store broke through the outer doors. Back on the roof, they spotted a construction site and knew that if they could get to it, to the van, they'd have a way out. How they'd get to it was another matter entirely, as the roads were still swarmed with walkers. That was when Rick came up with a brilliant idea: to cover himself and Glenn in the blood and guts of one of the walkers they'd killed in the alley and cover themselves with it. They needed to smell like the dead to get past the dead. Annie didn't agree, wanted to go with him, but Rick told her he needed her to be his eyes in the sky and to make sure everyone was ready when they got through. It worked amazingly well; the walkers didn't even pay attention to them beyond a glance and passing sniff.

When it started to rain, however, that was the real problem. It started to wash off the guts, clear up their scent. The walkers noticed it, too. They'd had no choice but to run the last bit of the way, hacking at walkers until they hopped the fence into the site. Even then, they didn't stop. Walkers were swarming, climbing the fence, it wouldn't be long till they got over or even broke it down. Luckily, Glenn got the keys and they got a truck going just in time, but looked like they were leaving. Annie tried to assure them that Rick wouldn't abandon them but it definitely seemed that way. At least until Glenn came over the radio, telling everyone to meet them at the loading dock of the store and be ready. Everyone grabbed their shit and bolted, running past the doors that were cracking under the pressure of the walkers. That was when they heard the car alarm and then a knock on the door. They quickly pulled the door open and tossed their things inside, driving off just as the walkers from the front got to them. Rick and Glenn had come up with a plan, let Glenn distract the walkers with the alarm's noise, draw them off so Rick could get everyone away. Glenn hadn't liked the idea at first, but he'd warmed up to it once he was cruising down the empty highway in the hot red Challenger.

"Wayne Dunlap, organ donor, the survivors of Atlanta thank you for your contribution," Annie said sardonically with a little smile. Everyone chuckled a little, glad to have the mood lightened somewhat, even Rick who nodded at her. "We riding off into the sunset again, Sheriff?"

Rick chuckled and smiled at her, "Seems so, ma'am."

"If you're gonna call me "ma'am", at least have the decency to put your hat back on, cowboy," she teased and Rick eyed her.

"I lost my hat," he reminded her and she snorted into her hand. Rick couldn't help but smile a little and shook his head at her before turning back to the window. Annie watched him a moment longer, a content smile on her face before looking out the window with a sigh.

Her shoulders relaxed, her whole body did, for the first time since she'd left Morgan. They'd made it out of the city. It all turned out okay. With the exception of the racist prick, Merle, who they had to leave handcuffed to the roof. The man did not play or work well with others and he was the only person who didn't make it out. T-Dog went back to get him, even though his better judgment told him not to, and he dropped the damn key. It wasn't his fault, not really. T-Dog told them he'd tripped and the key had been in his hand, flew down a drain. Nothing one could do at that point, there was no time to do something. Annie looked back at Rick and saw his eyes fixed on the road, brow furrowed.

"What's the matter, Sheriff?" she asked and Rick glanced at her before shaking his head.

"We shouldn't have left him."

"We didn't have a choice," she reminded him.

"There's _always_ a choice," he argued and sighed, running a hand over his head. "I shouldn't have cuffed him."

"If you hadn't, T-Dog would be dead and so would the rest of us." Leaning over, she squeezed his shoulder. "That man, he would've gotten us all killed. You did what you had to. There's no shame or blame in that."

"Best not to dwell on it," Morales told him, sliding to sit between the two of them on the floor. "Merle Dixon, getting left behind. Nobody's gonna be sad he didn't come back. Except, maybe Daryl." Rick looked at him questioningly and Morales smiled grimly. "His brother."

Annie ran a hand through her dark brown hair and muttered, "Perfect." Rick glanced at her with a raised brow and she shrugged. "It'll be fine," she assured him. Rick just nodded, not really believing her and she closed her eyes, wincing at her stupidity. The car alarm blared as Glenn sped past them, cheering and pumping his fist out the broken window.

"At least somebody's having a good day," Morales snorted.

* * *

"Come meet everybody," Morales said, patting Rick on his shoulder as he parked the van. Everyone quickly piled out, running to their people, reuniting. Annie sighed as she watched Morales with his wife and two kids, Andrea clinging to her sister, a sadness in her eyes.

Looking at Rick, she saw the same sadness and asked, "We gonna turn back and leave or are we gonna stay?" Rick looked at her, confused. "You're in charge here, Sheriff. Your call." He chuckled under his breath and, after another moments hesitation, opened the door, just as Morales was telling them, the "helicopter kids", to come meet everybody. Annie jumped down and walked around the hood to Rick's side, lightly patting his back and squeezing his shoulder.

"Oh, my God..." Rick pulled away from her and marched shakily towards the group.

"Rick?"

"DAD!"

Annie's eyes shot forward as a little boy bolted towards Rick, charging into him. Arms crossed, she leaned back against the Challenger and smiled. Rick was holding his son so tight, practically crushing him as they cried and walked further into the little camp. Standing in shock was Rick's wife, who he pulled into the embrace. Annie would have smiled, happy that Rick was reunited with the family he so desperately wanted to get back to, but she frowned instead. Rick's wife, she was in shock, yes, but she didn't seem very happy and her arms may have been around her husband and child, but her eyes were on another man. The man in question stood just off to the side and he was staring at the reunion as well, eyes forlorn and focused on Rick's wife.

That night, everyone sat around the campfire and Rick told them about how he woke up in the hospital. He'd been so disoriented, felt like he was in some coma-dream that he'd never wake up from. He thanked Shane, who Annie observed was the man Rick's wife, Lori, had been looking at, for getting his family out safely. The older man, Dale, brought up the sore subject of Merle's abandonment. Andrea's sister said to lie but Andrea admonished her, saying they had to tell the truth, that Merle was out of control and Rick did exactly what was necessary. T-Dog and Rick both took blame; T-Dog told them though that he chained and locked the door before he left, so Merle was still alive and handcuffed on that roof like a wild animal. It was a situation all of them were uncomfortable with. No one, not even a prick like Merle Dixon, deserved to be treated like that. Even if it was the end of the world.

"Annie?" Rick called out as she walked away from the group. Everyone had dispersed, going off to their separate tents for a good nights rest. Annie had been headed back to the truck they'd come to the camp in but stopped when he called out to her. "Where are you going?"

"To bed," she replied with an obvious tone, chuckling.

"No, I mean _where_," he corrected. Annie nodded to the truck and shrugged, assuring him she'd be okay. Rick muttered for his wife and son to go in the tent, that he'd join them soon, and walked over to Annie. "Stay with us," he told her, nodding to the tent behind him.

Shaking her head, Annie replied, "Nice gesture, but you need to be with your family."

"And you...?"

She shrugged and told him, "I'd slept in worse places than a car before I bumped into Morgan. I'll be fine." Rick didn't look convinced and she shook her head, squeezing his shoulder. "Go. Be with your family. I'll be around."

"You can sleep in the RV," Dale announced, walking over to the pair. "Andrea and Amy got a tent for themselves the last run so it's just me. I'm on watch with Shane tonight so beds free. Yours if you want it."

"She'll take it," Rick answered. Annie whipped her head around to look at him. The two stared at one another, a non-verbal argument going on, as Dale watched. The older man shifted uncomfortably for a moment before Annie looked at him and nodded, thanking him.

"It's no problem. You helped bring our people back. Least I can do." Moving back to the RV, he picked up his rifle and wished the both of them a good night before climbing onto the roof.

Rick picked up her pack and handed it to her with a smile, "Have a good night, Annie."

"Not like I have much of a choice now," she retorted. Rick just grinned at her. Shaking her head, she smiled and said, "Good night, Sheriff."

Annie ambled into the RV and took it in. It seemed like Dale had been going on a road trip before everything happened, there were maps all over the place. Of course, that could have just been a combination of his own and whatever everyone else managed to scrounge up. They needed to know the area, where to go, what the biggest and smallest towns for for supplies. Above her, she could hear the tapping and screeching of feet and lawn chairs. As she made her way to the back, she found the messy bed and tossed her pack on it before climbing on. Curling onto her side, Annie looked up at the ceiling at the sound of muffled voices. She wasn't sure how she felt about Shane being on watch but she didn't know him all that well yet. Like Morgan and Rick, she'd just have to take a chance and get to know him, get to know everyone in the camp. Looking out the window, she found Rick's tent, saw the shadows of him and his wife huddled together, saw the light go off. With a heavy sigh, she laid down and closed her eyes, hoping sleep would come quickly.


	6. Chapter 5

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own _The Walking Dead _or any of its characters. I don't even own Annie, she belongs to Sophie, who you can find on YouTube under xSoppySofax. Read on, darlings, and enjoy!

**Chapter 5**

The next morning, Annie woke up and changed quickly. Before she even stepped outside, she held onto her pack a moment and looked around. She didn't know these people, didn't know if she could trust them aside from Rick. It wasn't like this was the house she'd shacked up in with Morgan and Duane, this was a mountain side with a dozen strangers. Making the quick decision, she stowed her bag under the bed, probably not the most ingenious place but it would do for the time being. Annie stepped out of the RV, hands in her back pockets as she looked around, unsure of what to do. Rick must have been asleep still because she saw Lori and Carl already out and moving around. To her right she saw Glenn, watching on forlornly at his Challenger as some of the men began to take it apart. One of them seemed to be having trouble with a piece of the engine so she went over, as kindly as possible, told him to help the other men with the tires. Jim began to riff off a list of parts they needed from the engine for the various vehicles around and she nodded silently. Annie was well aware of the eyes on her but ignored them, focused on her work instead.

"Look at 'em. Vultures," Glenn muttered. "Yeah, go on! Strip it clean!"

Dale walked up to the two with a half full gas can, kindly reminding him, "Generator's need every drop of fuel they can get. Got no power without it." Patting his shoulder, he said he was sorry but he didn't really sound it.

"Thought I'd get to drive it at least a few more days," he complained.

"Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday." Annie laughed at that and looked over her shoulder at Rick and Glenn, shaking her head. Glenn continued to mutter about his misfortune, throwing a rather sarcastic comment at Annie but she just ignored him. Her attention was entirely focused on the engine, the list repeating in her head. "You look like you know what you're doing." Looking up, she saw Rick standing beside her with a confused smile on his face.

"That's because I do," she answered and turned back to the engine. Luckily, Dale and Jim both had some tools for her to use, just not a lot of the right ones; a lot were missing. Taking the engine apart was going to be long and difficult. "I worked in an auto-shop. Before. Paperwork and answering phones mostly, but the guys there, they taught me a lot."

"Never occurred to you to tell me that when the cruiser ran out of gas?"

Annie smirked, "You never asked."

The two shared a good chuckle before Rick patted her shoulder, telling her to stay in the camp and be careful. She nodded slowly, noticing that the missing wedding band was now on his finger, and watched him as he walked away, joining his wife at her makeshift clothesline. She watched the two, hiding her face in her arm, sullen at the domesticated look of them. Shane sped in then, announcing that he had water and reminded everyone to boil it first, breaking her focus. Annie tried to keep her attention on the engine, but the situation was playing in her head. Something with Rick's wife, something wasn't right, something about their marriage, and it was gnawing at her, eating away and she couldn't figure out why.

A shriek echoed though the camp. Carl called for his dad, a little girl cried for her mother. As Rick bolted from the camp with Lori, she followed after with Shane and Glenn not too far behind her. They ran through the woods, downhill, getting closer to the kids voices. When they broke into the clearing, jumping over some half-assed alarm system of cans on string, Carl ran into his mothers arms while Jacqui held onto the little girl, gesturing the others in the right direction. Through the trees, they found a lone walker feasting on a deer. The second their smell hit it though, the walker turned to them and rose up. Rick pushed Annie back, where she was grabbed by Andrea, as he whacked the monster across it's face and soon all the men were joining in. Shane was hitting it with the butt of his gun, Jim a pitchfork, Glenn a tire iron, Morales a bat. They hit it over and over again before Dale finally got there and chopped off it's head with an ax.

"That's the first one we've had up here," Dale announced, panting. "They never come this far up the mountain!"

"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what," Jim explained. Everyone's attention turned back to the woods at the sound of rustling leaves, twigs snapping. Shane took the lead, gun ready to fire, waiting until someone crossed around a boulder and glared at the group.

"Son of a bitch!" the man with the crossbow cursed, striding over to the group. "That's _my _deer! Look at it, all gnawed on by this filthy—" KICK! "—disease bearing—" KICK! "—motherless—" KICK! "—poxy bastard!"

"Calm down, son, that's not helping."

"What do you know about it, old man?" he shouted at Dale, moving to get in his face. "You take that stupid hat and go back to _On Golden Pond_!" Sighing heavily, he went back to the dead animal and pulled out his arrows. "Been tracking this deer for miles, gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?"

Shane shook his head, "I would not risk that."

"That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel, about a dozen or so. That'll have to do."

The walker head started chewing at the air, Andrea leading her sister away as she got sick. The designated hunter of the group, just shoot the head in its eye, effectively killing it and berating everyone that they had to get the brain to kill them. When he walked back into the camp, he called out for Merle to come help him skin and gut the squirrels and Annie realized that the man was Daryl. In front of everyone, Shane tried to calmly tell Daryl the situation before Rick stepped up. It didn't go very well. Daryl threw the squirrels at him and tried to stab him, slashing the air as Rick dodged. Annie pulled out her gun and aimed it at him but Rick shouted at her, telling her no. Luckily, Shane managed to get in and grab Daryl in a choke hold and dragged him to the ground. Rick explained that what he did wasn't on a whim and T-Dog stepped up then, telling him that it was his fault. He told him about the key, the drain, how he blocked the door, how his brother was still alive and still trapped there. Daryl demanded to know where Merle was so he could go get him and, accusatory, Lori announced that Rick would show him where he was. Rick nodded, stating that he was going back. Lori retreated into the RV with a huff and Rick into their tent to change.

* * *

"Let's just hope that four's your lucky number," Shane said grimly, passing over the four bullets. Rick thanked his best friend, pocketing the bullets and looked around the camp. He let out a relieved breath when he saw Annie emerge from the woods. "Where'd you find her anyway?" he asked, looking at Annie as she dumped some firewood at the center of camp. Rick looked over at her, watching as she disappeared into the RV and came out with her back. She was checking her gun's mag and securing it, along with her knife.

"I didn't. We found each other," he answered, eyes on Annie. Shane looked at him, looked back and forth at him and Annie, and then over at Lori. She was watching everything as well, sitting with Carl, her arm around him. Annie threw her pack over her shoulder and walked over to them, prepared to hop in the truck but Rick grabbed her. "No."

Stunned, she asked, "What?"

"No, Annie." Shane cleared his throat, saying he'd leave them alone and wandered off.

"What do you mean "no"?" she questioned, trying to remain calm.

"I want you to stay here."

"No," she immediately stated, shaking her head.

"Annie—"

"No! You have no right to tell me what to do!" she shouted angrily. "I'm not your daughter, your girlfriend or your wife, Rick!" He ran a hand over his face and she sighed, desperately telling him, "I _have_ to go. The duffel, _I_ dropped it."

"Wasn't your fault. We were surrounded," he reasoned.

"The walkie was in the duffel. Morgan and Duane..." Annie wiped the stray tears from her face, heart pounding with fear and anxiety. "If we don't get it back, then they'll go to the city and they might not get as lucky as you and me. They might die!"

"I know. But I would feel better if you stayed here."

"I can't just _sit_ here and wait—!"

"Please, don't argue," he begged. "Just stay. Protect my family, these people. I know you can." She shook her head, hands on her hips, ready to jump in the truck. He shouldn't go alone and he basically was alone. He didn't know Daryl and, if he was anything like his brother, he wouldn't be able to trust him. Glenn was just a kid and T-Dog, him and Daryl together was a bad combination. He needed her with him, why couldn't he understand that? "I'll get the bag. I will."

Eyes teary, she looked him in the eyes, saw his determination and nodded. "Okay," she quietly agreed. "Okay."

"Trust me. I promise, everything is gonna be fine." Annie wanted to tell him that he shouldn't make promises he couldn't keep but she just nodded and hugged him. "It'll all gonna be just fine."

"Don't do anything stupid, okay? Don't get killed."

"I won't. I won't, promise."

Both of them sincerely hoped that was a promise he could keep.


	7. Chapter 6

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own _The Walking Dead _or any of its characters. I don't even own Annie, she belongs to Sophie, who you can find on YouTube under xSoppySofax. Read on, darlings, and enjoy!

**Chapter 6**

The women tried to tell her to do laundry with them at the quarry but she refused. Just because the world ended, it didn't mean she was going to live in the dark ages. Her job was not going to be to do all the cooking for the men, the cleaning for the men, to keep quiet and sit back and let the big strong men take care of her. Annie had been taking care of herself long before walkers appeared. She knew how to survive. Annie decided to collect wood, not just for the fire but for herself. When she ran out of bullets – and it was most definitely a matter of when, not if – or if she lost her knife, she'd need a backup. She could fashion of weapon with a sturdy piece of wood easily, maybe even bash some nails or something sharp into it.

Shouting caught her attention and she peaked around a tree, watching as Shane held Carol's husband, Ed, to the ground and beat the living hell out of him. The women were holding Carol back as she cried, demanding Shane stop but he didn't listen. When he finally did, he muttered something to Ed and stormed off. He was headed up hill, towards her, and she stared him down. As he got closer, he looked up and stopped. Their eyes locked and he had some decency to look ashamed as she glared at him. When Shane ducked his head and walked past her, Annie turned her head and watched him go.

She definitely didn't trust that man.

* * *

Andrea and Amy caught fish for dinner that night, telling Carl that they'd teach him to catch next time they went out. It had been a peaceful morning, a good one, until Dale opened his mouth and pointed out Jim. Jim was digging. He'd been doing it since he got up, high on the hill that overlooked the camp. Annie had gone up with a canteen of water she'd boiled clean, leaving it for him when he didn't answer her. Dale had tried as well but, again, nothing. The man wouldn't talk to anyone. He'd just dig. Eventually, Shane led everyone up there to talk to him but Annie stayed behind. These weren't her people, they weren't her problem. It was a waste of water; she didn't know why she bothered.

When everyone came back, they were sullen and morose, and Shane tied Jim to a tree. Shane assured Jim that he didn't think he was a danger to anyone but he had sunstroke, no one blamed him for acting the way he did. Even the kids kept Jim calm, assuring him that he hadn't scared them. Carl was worried but he was being brave, not showing it. Jim just told him that Rick would be fine, that he liked to help people and probably just got held up helping someone. Annie rolled her eyes and nodded her head; that definitely seemed to be Rick's way.

"That man, he's tough as nails. I don't know him well but, I can see it in him," Jim commented, nodding at Carl. "Am I right?" he asked, looking up at Shane.

"Oh, yeah."

Jim nodded, looked back at Carl and said, "There ain't nothing gonna stop him from getting back to you and your mama."

Shane led the kids off, to help him clean fish, and Annie wandered up to the RV. She grabbed her pack from under the bed and made her way up the ladder with the best branch she could find. Dale was helping to clean the wash so she volunteered to be on watch. Sitting in the lawn chair, she picked up the binoculars and surveyed the area for a few moments, before setting them down. Nothing, nothing and more nothing. Annie picked up the branch and reached in her pack, pulling out another knife. She began to carve into the wood. There were plenty of branches in the world for her to make an assortment of backup weapons. For now, she was going to start with something simple. Just a sharp point. Down below, Morales piled up rocks so the fire could be bigger without being seen and everyone started frying up the fish. When darkness fell, Annie was fidgeting and nervous.

"Annie, come on down! Dinner's ready!" Dale called up and she nodded absentmindedly.

The moment her feet hit the ground, she told him, "They should've been back by now. It doesn't take this long to cut a man free and snatch a bag of guns."

"They'll be back. Don't you worry," he told her, patting her shoulder in a fatherly fashion. "Rick seems like a good man and, hell, he got them out before. He can do it again."

"I was with him before," she reminded him, still bitter over her being left behind at camp.

"Yeah, well, I'm sure he had his reasons for making you stay."

"If you're trying to comfort me, don't," she demanded and walked over to the fire pit, tossing her pack down beside her. Before she sat down, she laid her newest weapon beside her pack and took her gun out of the back waistband of her pants, setting that down as well. The moment she sat down, she looked up and saw everyone staring at her. Instead of snapping at them like she wanted to, she graciously accepted the plate of food Dale passed to her. Before long, everyone was eating and talking to each other, enjoying each others company. She'd never felt more out of place.

"I gotta ask you, man. It's been driving me crazy." Dale asked what, curious. "That watch."

"What's wrong with my watch?"

"I see you," Morales continued with a wry smile, "every day, same time, winding that thing, like a village priest saying mass." Jacqui perked up, saying she'd been wondering about it as well as Andrea nodded with a smile.

Dale shrugged, with an amused smile, and said, "I'm missing the point."

"Unless I've misread the signs, the world seems to have come to an end." Jacqui grinned and him and joked, "At least hit a speed bump for a good long while."

"But there's you, every day, winding that stupid watch," Morales added, the silent question hanging in the air.

"Time. It's important to keep track, isn't it? The days, at least. Don't you think, Andrea?" Dale asked and she just looked at him wide eyed, choosing to take a long drink of her beer instead of answering. "I like, I like, um, what the father said to the son when he gave him a watch that had been handed down for generations. He said, "I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs, no better than it did mine or my father's before me. I give it to you not that you may remember time, that you may forget it, for a moment now and then, and not spend all your breath trying to conquer it"." Everyone sat in silence, taking it in, some nodding, some smiling. Annie smiled a little, staring into the flames of the fire.

"You are so weird," Amy announced and everyone had a good laugh, even Dale.

"Not me! Faulkner! William Faulkner," he corrected and shrugged modestly. "Maybe my bad paraphrasing." Amy set her plate down and stood up, trying to be quiet but her sister quickly asked where she was going.

"I have to pee. Geez, try to be discrete around here," she muttered and more laughter commenced. Annie stretched her arms above her head, sighing and rolling her neck, massaging the muscles there.

"Hey, Annie?" She opened her eyes and looked across the flames at Carl. "Did you save my dad?"

Annie took a breath and answered, "Once or twice."

"Did he save you?" Annie nodded and smiled.

"Once or twice."

Nodding, Carl smiled and commented, "Cool."

Amy came out of the RV, announcing with a groan that they were out of toiler paper. This was quickly followed by a loud scream. Everyone turned and looked up to see her collapse to the ground, arm bloody and crying. Walkers, at least a dozen of them, appeared from all sides of the camp. Andrea screamed for her sister, trying to get to her as Shane started firing his shotgun. Dale fired his rifle not too far away as Jim and Morales took up their bats and started beating walkers that came near their people. Annie had been firing her gun, a stupid instinct, when she heard Carl screamed and bolted towards him, stabbing a walker with her stick as she slid to a stop and swung him around behind her, shooting the walker that tried to bit him. Lori was huddled behind Shane, screaming in a panic, asking him in what to do but there was nothing to do but survive. Carl cried as he wrapped his arms around her stomach and, left with no choice, she dropped her stick and wrapped her arm around him, holding him close.

"You don't leave my side! You stay with me, okay? Okay?!" Carl shouted okay and held tighter, refusing to let go.

Morales yelled for everyone to get to the RV and Annie held Carl close, firing at anything that came close to them and made her way. Gun shots sounded behind them and Annie looked over her shoulder, crying in relief as Rick, Glenn, T-Dog and Daryl ran out of the woods, killing whatever got in their way. When Rick screamed for his son, Carl bolted from her side and Annie slid down the side of the RV to ground. Carl was crying as Rick picked him up and held him, listening as his son cried and told him that Annie protected him. Lori joined them, but Rick's eyes found her and he nodded his thanks to her. Panting and near tears, panic and adrenaline rushing through her veins, she nodded back and rubbed her face. The walkers were dead. The chaos, for the moment, was over. Annie looked to the right and saw Andrea hovering over Amy, her throat having been bit, crying and bloody and telling her she didn't know what to do. She caressed her baby sister's face with bloody hands. Amy stopped moving and Andrea sobbed hysterically, calling out for her.

"I remember my dream now. Why I dug the holes," Jim announced solemnly. Annie looked over the camp, at all the bodies that littered the ground, both walkers and survivors. She knew why he'd been digging now, too. Everyone did.


	8. Chapter 7

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own _The Walking Dead _or any of its characters. I don't even own Annie, she belongs to Sophie, who you can find on YouTube under xSoppySofax. Read on, darlings, and enjoy!

It is 11:30. Sorry, guys, I had work and then _Game of Thrones_ and _Borgias_ distracted me. But I didn't watch _Vikings_; I would've completely forgotten to update if I'd done that lol

Also, Sophie has posted Part 3 of the Rick and Annie - Rinnie? Annick? - story on her YouTube account! Its is the second half of season 3, so go watch if you want, or don't. Either way, it's up and running and may or may not be the last Rick/Annie vid till season 4 later this year.

**Chapter 7**

The sun rose over the still city, light sweeping over the buildings and chasing shadows away. Despite all the death within the city, the sun's rays reflected blindingly off the glass and brought all to life. The sun continued to brighten all it touched, reaching the countryside. Annie was sitting on the ground, arms resting on her knees. She couldn't help but watch the sunrise that morning, even though that wasn't why she was on the hill. No, the reason she was on the hill was working on their purpose. After a rough night of everyone sleeping in their cars and, in Annie's case, cramped in the RV, Rick found her and told her he was going to try to radio Morgan. There wasn't even if a question of whether or not she'd join him, he just knew. So there they were, her sitting and watching a new day dawn, and him standing, fiddling with the radio until it finally turned on and a burst of static broke the serene calm.

"Morgan, I don't know if you're out there," Rick began, taking a knee beside Annie. "I don't know if you can hear me. Maybe you're listening right now, I sure hope so. I found others. My family, if you can believe it. My wife and son, they're alive. I wanted you to know that. Annie's fine, sitting right next to me as a matter of fact." Annie looked up at him and smiled softly. "There's something else you _need _to know. Atlanta isn't what we thought. It's _not _what they promised. The city is..." Rick took a deep breath and warned, "Do _not _enter the city. It belongs to the dead now." The pair waited for a response but nothing came. "We're camped a few miles northwest, by a big abandoned rock quarry. You can see it on a map. I hope you come find us. But be careful. Last night, walkers came out of the woods. We lost people. Watch yourself. Morgan, take care of your boy. I'll try again tomorrow at dawn." Rick wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his wrist and held out the walkie. "You want to try?"

Hesitantly, she nodded and said, "Yeah. Yeah." Rick nodded and passed it to her. After explaining how it worked, he wished her luck and headed down the hill back to camp. Annie watched him, the slump in his shoulders and the way his head was lowered. The way he passed the walkie off to her, so offhandedly, she knew he felt the same way she did. Both of them were convinced that the walkie was a waste of time, considering Morgan hadn't answered, but hoped it wasn't. Hope was all any of them had now. "Morgan, it's Annie. I don't quite know what to say," she told him. "Rick told you about the walkers last night. It was...it was so surreal, Morgan. It was like the neighborhood when that car alarm went off the night we found Rick. They're spreading, Morgan. I guess because they're running out of food in the city." Running a hand through her hair, she waited. Static, just more static. "Duane, you have to be my eyes now. Keep your old man safe for me. If you guys can hear this, please, just be smart. Be safe. Hopefully, I'll see you soon." Annie paused, waiting for a response of any kind. Nothing. Sighing, she squeezed her eyes shut. She tried to stop the tears but they still ran down her face. Rising to her feet, she quickly wiped them and turned off the walkie, marching back to the camp in disappointment.

Walking through the camp, she passed the aftershock of the attack. Glenn and T-Dog were gathering wood and brush for a funeral pyre. Jim was dragging walkers over to the pyre where Daryl would shatter the walkers skulls with a pickaxe. Glenn and T-Dog would then pick up the walker and swing it by what was left of its head and feet and toss it onto the fire. Like a well oiled machine, those four were. By the RV, Andrea was still hovering over and holding her dead sister. She hadn't moved all night wouldn't talk to anyone, as if she was oblivious to everyone and everything around her. Like she was a million miles away.

"Y'all can't be serious? Let that girl hamstring us? The dead girls a time bomb!" Daryl hissed, pointing to the catatonic Andrea.

"What do you suggest?" Rick asked.

Daryl stepped up to him and told him, "Take the shot. Clean in the brain from here! Hell, I could hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance!"

"Let her be," Annie spoke up, arms crossed. Looking over her shoulder at Andrea, she added, "She'll do it herself, but only when it happens. She can't do it before, because then it's like she's killing Amy. She can't kill her baby sister, so don't try and make her." Annie turned back to the others and stared hard at them. "She'll do it, but only when Amy is really gone. So just let her be." Rick and Shane shared a look and the former nodded at her. Daryl's eyes switched to all of them before giving them a fuck-you look and headed off, sickened at the decision.

Satisfied, Annie handed Rick the walkie and went over to the RV, ignored by Andrea as she stepped inside. It was perfectly fine by Andrea, who was still in shock; she didn't even notice. Outside, she could hear Glenn yelling at Daryl and Morales, about how the walkers and their people belonged in different piles; that they buried their dead, not burn them like the walkers. Daryl was going off about how the camp deserved the attack for what they did to Merle. Rick had filled her in on what had happened. A man cutting off own hand? That was insane. She honestly didn't think a man like Merle would do something so desperate. Then she heard Jacqui yelling about how Jim had been bit and everyone demanding to see it. Walking out of the RV, she stood in the doorway and watched as everyone backed away from him. He kept muttering that he was okay. But he wasn't, he really wasn't.

* * *

"I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it," Daryl stated, looking over his shoulder at Jim, who sat alone at the hump of the RV.

"That what you'd want if it were you?" Shane questioned sarcastically.

"Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it!"

"I hate to say it, I never thought I would," Dale began shakily, "but maybe Daryl's right."

"Jim's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog," Rick reminded him objectively.

"I'm not suggesting—"

"For Jesus Christ's sake! He's a man!" Rick snapped, "We start down that road, where do we draw the line?"

"Line's pretty clear! Zero tolerance to walkers, or them to be," Daryl argued.

"What if we can get him help?" Rick suggested hopefully. "I heard the CDC was working on a cure."

Annie shook her head and reminded him with an obvious tone, "We also heard that Atlanta was a refugee camp, that it was safe."

"We heard that, too," Shane agreed with a nod. "Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell."

"What if the CDC is still up and running?" Shane scoffed and shook his head, telling him that was a stretch. "Why? If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the CDC at all costs, wouldn't they?"

"Even if there are any politicians left, trust me, they're not fighting to save civilization. They're three miles underground with Dr. Strangelove," Annie sneered.

"I think it's our best shot: shelter, protection—"

"Okay, okay, okay! You want those things, I do, too! Now, _if_ they exist, they're at the Army base: Fort Benning." Lori shook her head and point out that, that was a hundred miles in the opposite direction. Shane didn't deny that. Instead, he told them, "But it is away from the hot zone. Now, listen, if that place is operational, it'd be heavily armed, we'd be safe there."

"The military was on the front lines of this thing," Rick argued. Daryl even chimed in that they were overrun. "The CDC is our best choice and Jim's only chance."

"For what, Rick?" Annie snapped in agitation. "You really think the CDC is trying to crack this disease or whatever it is? Like they've dealt with AIDS for over thirty years and never cracked that? Hell, they didn't even have a name for it the first few years!"

"So you want to go to Fort Benning?" he questioned, just as agitated and hands on his hips. "How does that help Jim?"

"It doesn't, that's the point!" she shouted at him. Taking a calming breath, she explained, "Ignoring the fact that if either one of these places were actually up and running, you'd hear radio chatter on your CB, I'm sure as hell not gonna hope and pray on a cure that doesn't exist. It doesn't, Rick," she pressed, trying to get through to him. "And it never will."

"I can't just believe that," he told her, just as desperate to make her understand.

"Y'all go looking for aspirin, do what you need to do," Daryl announced and backed away, pickaxe firm in his hand. "Somebody needs to have some balls to take care of this thing!" he shouted, raising the axe to kill Jim.

Rick clicked his gun and held it to Daryl's head, gritting his teeth and said, "We _don't _kill the living." Daryl looked over his shoulder at him as he lowered the axe.

"That's funny, coming from a man who just put a gun to my head."

"We may disagree on some things, but not on this," Shane said, blocking Daryl off from Jim, shotgun in hand. "You put it down. Go on." Pissed, Daryl slammed the pickaxe into the ground and stormed off.

Annie shook her head as Rick helped Jim up and lead him into the RV, telling him that he was taking him somewhere safe. Rick would learn sooner or later, same as she did. It would be a hard lesson, but he'd learn it. As the day went on, things got better and worse. Carol let out all her rage on her husband's corpse. Andrea put down Amy after, under everyone's careful eyes. Rick, Shane and Daryl rushed over to kill Amy themselves if Andrea wouldn't but the others kept their distance and watched. When it was done, she delicately laid Amy's body down and walked off to be alone, still in a daze and tear stained.


	9. Chapter 8

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own _The Walking Dead _or any of its characters. I don't even own Annie, she belongs to Sophie, who you can find on YouTube under xSoppySofax. Read on, darlings, and enjoy!

I apologize for the late post! It's finals week for me and I completely spaced! I didn't even watch_ Game of Thrones_ or _Borgias_ this Sunday, so that threw me off my schedule as well. We're almost done with season 1 though, guys, and I'll be working on season 3 probably after next week once my last final is done.

**Chapter 8**

Annie hopped out of the back of the truck and immediately picked up a wayward shovel, starting to dig graves alongside Rick. These people may not have been hers but they were still people and they had accepted her, taken her in, let her sleep amongst them and fed her when they didn't have to. They deserved her respect. Daryl was skeptical about burying the bodies instead of burning them. He claimed that just because Glenn – although his exact word was "Chinaman" – got emotional that they were making a mistake. He went even further, telling Shane and Rick that people needed to know who was in charge, what the rules were. Rick told him simply that there were no rules, not anymore, and he couldn't have been more right. Lori said that was a problem, stating that they hadn't had any time to hold onto their old selves, that they needed time to mourn and bury their dead because it was was _people _did. As she walked away, Annie snorted.

"What?" Daryl asked.

"It's just funny," she responded.

"What is?" Annie stopped shoveling a moment, wiping her brow.

"She's so self-righteous, saying we have to bury the dead." Picking up the shovel, she stabbed it into the ground and smirked at him. "The funny part is how she's not doing any digging." Daryl snorted and nodded his head.

The moment the dead were buried – Andrea insistently taking care of her sister by herself, although Dale helped her regardless – the group headed back to camp. Carol hadn't come, opting to stay in the RV with Jim and nurse him. Rick called out to Annie, telling her to wait up while he spoke to his son. A few moments later, Carl was walking over to her and held out his hand. Rick asked if she would mind watching him for a few minutes and she shook her, laughing as Rick told his son to mind Annie and keep an eye on her. Carl promised to protect her and, with a smile, Annie took his hand and let him lead her over to the fire pit. The two sat there, playing tick-tack-toe in the dirt, Carl sufficiently distracted as she watched his parents. By the cars, Rick and his wife were talking in hushed tones, terrified looks on their faces and Lori was crying. Rick wasn't far behind her as the two hugged. Carl stood up to go to his parents but his father told him to stay with Annie as they went into the RV. Lori came out a moment later and sat on the steps, but she wasn't alone for long since Shane knelt in front of her.

"How old are you?" she asked inquisitively.

"Twelve."

"Young man," she observed with a nod. Reaching into her pack, Annie pulled out a book and passed it to him. "I first read that when I was your age, required for school. It's one of my favorites."

"I can keep it?" he asked in surprise.

"You can _borrow_ it," she corrected and Carl nodded, flipping through the worn copy of _The Odyssey_.

"What's it about?"

"It's about a man named Odysseus, whose called away to war the day his son is born. The war lasts for ten years and he spends the next ten struggling to get home to his family," she explained and Carl looked up at her.

"Kind of like my dad..."

"Yeah, I guess it kind of is." Smiling, she patted his back and told him, "If you need any help with the words, you can come ask me or your dad."

"Cool. Thanks, Annie." She ruffled his hair, laughing as he swatted her hand away. He really was a sweet little kid. Looking up, she caught Rick coming out of the RV looking very stressed and confused, staring at both Lori and Shane. The threesome spoke, Shane's posture very agitated, before the two men walked off, Dale following after.

"Why don't you start on that? I'm gonna go keep watch." Carl just nodded, already starting to read the epic poem as she picked up her gun and walked away, passing Lori without a glance. Something was going on with Lori and Shane, that much was certain. Annie didn't know what was wrong but there was something going on, something she was surprised Rick hadn't noticed.

* * *

"I've, uh, I've been thinking about Rick's plan," Shane announced as he, Rick and Dale ambled back into camp. Annie walked back over to the group, having been keeping a sharp eye on the woods, curious as to what the other cop had to say. Rick waved her over, nodding at her as she stood between his kneeling form and a sitting Carl. "Now, look, there, uh, there are no guarantees. Either way, I'll be the first one to admit that. I've known this man a long time," he continued, looking across the fire at Rick. "I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is we _need _to stay together. So, those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning. Okay?" There was silence around the camp, a few nods here and there.

"What about Morgan? Duane?" Annie asked Rick as he stood up. "We can't just leave without them."

"Jim doesn't have the time to wait," he pointed out. "We don't have a choice."

"Someone once told me there was _always _a choice," she retorted with a pointed look, crossing her arms. "We can't just go off in hope of a cure that, once again, _doesn't_ exist and leave them behind. We can't! I won't!"

Insistent, he argued, "No one's saying that."

"Really? Because that's _exactly_ what it sounds like," she snapped. "He saved your life and this is how you repay him?" Rick sighed heavily as she stormed into the RV, packing up what little she had for the morning departure. Everyone went to sleep that night with a lot on their minds.

* * *

"We're moving out, leaving the quarry," Rick spoke into the walkie, Annie fidgeting on the balls of her feet beside him. It was dawn and there they were, trying to get in touch with Morgan again. "If you heard me yesterday, you may be coming here. If you are, we'll be gone by the time you arrive. Annie and I, we're leaving a note and map behind for you, taped to a red car so you can follow our trail." He looked up at Annie, smiling at her and relieved when she smiled back. Rick had woken up, dressed and ready to go before his family and, upon leaving their tent, he found Annie sitting pensively at the fire pit. The two discussed Morgan again and, after a lot of hissed shouting, she pulled out a map she'd taken from Dale's RV, one of many and she doubted he'd miss it. Rick marked it up and grabbed the walkie as she wrote the note, both of them heading up the hill just as the sun was rising. "We're heading to the CDC. If there's anything left, it's got to be there, don't you think?" Static filled the air and the pair shared a worried look. "Morgan...I hope you were right about that place. I _need _you to be." Rick lowered the walkie and stood up with a frown.

"Maybe they're sleeping," she said, trying to convince them both that their worst fear wasn't true.

"Maybe." He didn't sound too convinced and she honestly didn't blame him. She didn't believe herself either. Annie didn't want to believe the worst but they had no confirmation of the best.

Quiet, she whispered forlornly, "I'll believe that if you will."

"Come on." Nodding, she let him put his arm around her shoulder and hug her tightly as they walked back to camp. It was a small comfort, but it was there and that was what counted.

* * *

"All right, everybody listen up!" Shane announced, calling the camp to order. Everyone was awake, or barely awake in the case of the kids, and packed up. They stood at their cars, or sat on the hoods, eyes focused on Shane and Rick, who stood before all of them. "Those of you with CB's, we're gonna be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now, you got a problem, don't got a CB, can't get a signal – anything at all – you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

Morales cleared his throat and stated, "We're not going." Everyone stared at them, silently questioning why, when his wife, Miranda, told them that they had family in Birmingham and wanted to be with their people.

"You're on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back," Shane told them.

"We'll take the chance," Morales told him firmly. "I gotta do what's best for _my _family." Rick asked him if he was sure. "We talked about it. We're sure."

"All right. Shane?" The other man nodded and Rick knelt down to the bag of guns. He pulled out a simple revolver and handed it to Morales while Shane passed him a box of ammo, half full.

While everyone else said their goodbyes to the Hispanic family, Rick walked over to Annie and passed her a piece of paper. Smiling, she jogged over to the Challenger and opened it up. On the map, the CDC was marked off and, along the top, was Annie's note: "MORGAN – GOING TO CDC. THIS AREA NOT SAFE. – Annie & Rick". After taping it to the cars window with tape Dale gladly gave her, she turned back to the group and saw Morales' little girl giving her doll to Carol's girl and Rick making sure the man knew to be on channel 40 if he changed his mind. Shane told everyone to move out and Annie hesitated, unsure of where to go. Dale had always said the RV was open to her but Jim was there and, no offense to Glenn, Jacqui, and Carol, but she didn't want to be around him. She certainly didn't want to ride with Shane or Daryl and she didn't really know Andrea or T-Dog all that well to ride with them. She didn't think Lori would want her around, considering the dirty looks she'd been giving her. Where was she going to go?

"Annie!" Carl called out. "Come on! You can ride with us!" As she walked over, she didn't miss the eye roll and head shake Lori did as she climbed into the passenger seat. Carl took her pack off her and excitedly piled into the backseat with a big grin.

Rick, smiling at her, said, "Looks like you're stuck with us."

"Not a bad place to be stuck," she returned with a smile of her own.

The caravan pulled out onto the road, slowly making its way away from the camp, Dale leading the way in the RV. Annie sat in the middle of the backseat in Rick's Cherokee, Carl curled up on one side, reading the book she'd given him, with Sophia curled up on the other. The girl was clutching the doll Morale's little girl gifted to her with tears in her eyes. With a heavy sigh, Annie cautiously places her hand on the girls head and slowly stroked her. She hoped that she gave her some small amount of comfort, not used to being around kids. As the caravan made its way toward Atlanta, through the quiet Georgia woods, around bends and over various bumps, Rick checked his rear view, making sure everyone was in line behind him, and caught sight of Annie. She looked peaceful for the first time since they'd left Morgan's house. Just as he looked back at the road, her eyes found his and held them with a soft smile.

_**A/N: **_There's a song that played at this point in the episode. It was _Sunshine_ by John Murphy. I highly recommend giving it a listen. It's an intensely beautiful yet simple song.


	10. Chapter 9

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own _The Walking Dead _or any of its characters. I don't even own Annie, she belongs to Sophie, who you can find on YouTube under xSoppySofax. Read on, darlings, and enjoy!

**Chapter 9**

"I told you we'd never get far on that hose," Dale stated. The caravan was forced to stop when the RV's engine overheated. Annie stood beside the older man, waving her hand in front of her face as they popped the hood and steam poured out everywhere. Everyone else was out as well, surveying the area, weapons at the ready in case of walkers. Pointedly, he stated, "I needed the one from the cube van."

"Can you jury-rig it?" Rick wondered.

"That's all it's been so far. It's more duct tap than hose." Before Rick could suggest it, Dale quickly added, "And I'm out of duct tape."

"Bright side? You got your hat back," Annie commented lightly.

"Yes, ma'am," he retorted and she snorted with laughter, Rick joining her soon after. It felt good to laugh after all that had happened the past few days.

"I see something up ahead," Shane announced from ahead of the group, binoculars in hand. "Gas station, if we're lucky."

"What is it with you cops hoping for luck at gas stations?" Annie muttered to Rick with a shake of her head. Jacqui rushed out of the RV, telling them in a panic that Jim was bad and she didn't think he could go any further. Shane volunteered to go ahead, T-Dog saying he'd go with and watch his back, to see what they could find and bring back. As the two went off, Rick took off his hand and rubbed his head, heading into the RV with trepidation. "I might be able to get this fixed, if they don't find anything," she told Dale.

"How's that?" he wondered. Jogging back to the Cherokee, she opened up her pack and rummaged around a moment before running back to Dale with her find. Smiling, she held up a roll of tightly compacted roll of bandages and adhesive tape from a first aid kid she'd swiped weeks ago. "We're definitely going to have to keep you around!" he cheered with a laugh, clapping her on the back.

* * *

"It's what he says he wants," Rick whispered to them.

"And he's lucid?" Carol questioned incredulously.

"He seems to be," he replied with a slow nod. "I would say yes."

"Back in the camp," Dale began, "when I said Daryl might be right and you shut me down, you misunderstood. I would _never _go along with callously killing a man. I was just gonna suggest that we _ask _Jim what _he _wants. I think we have an answer."

"We just leave him here? We take off?" Shane asked and shook his head. Him and T-Dog had returned only moments ago, proudly sporting a new hose for Dale, when they heard the discussion going on. "Man, I'm not sure I can live with that."

"It's not your call," Annie told him. "Either one of you."

"If we give up, it's over. No one can ever count on anything," Rick whispered to her, almost desperately. Annie frowned, watching him wrestle with Jim's request.

"You _can't _save everyone, Rick. And you know it," she told him wisely. "I get that this is hard for you, but this is what he wants. This is _his _decision. Not _your _failure." Soon enough, Rick and Shane were carrying Jim as gently as they could out of the RV. They carried past the cars, off the road and set him down amidst the trees. Jim looks worse than when Annie last saw him; he was much paler, sweaty, he looked half dead, like a walker already.

"Hey, another damn tree," Jim joked quietly, wheezing. In one last ditch effort, Shane knelt in front of Jim and told him that it didn't have to be like this. "No. It's good. Breeze feels nice," he said weakly. Shane nodded and walked away, unable to deal with it. Jacqui whispered sweetly to him, kissing his cheek before leaving him be with tears in his eyes.

Rick walked up, gun in hand and asked, "Jim, do you want this?"

"No. You'll need it. I'm okay."

"Thanks for fighting for us," Dale said with a sincere smile. Jim nodded.

One by one, everyone filed past him, each one paying their respects. Everyone but Daryl. He walked a little closer to Jim, crossbow raised high and, for a moment, Annie thought he would kill him. Instead, he nodded his head, a sign of respect and a farewell. It surprised that someone kin to Merle could show such respect, especially to a man he'd been so eager to kill before. Everyone piled back into their cars. The caravan headed out once more. All the vehicles slowly passed Jim, leaving him behind, watching him disappear out their windows and mirrors.

* * *

The caravan pulled to a stop. Rick was the first to step out of his car then, one by one, all the doors opened and the group exited their cars. They stood there, in a line, mouths open as they took it in. the steps of the CDC were an urban battlefield. Dead soldiers, some shot in the head, some eaten, filled the street and lined the steps. They'd obviously gone hand-to-hand with the countless walkers that filled the streets. It had been a massacre on both sides. Flies buzz all over, the stench is unbearable. Carol held Sophia close as she and Lori took in the horrific sight. Jacqui just stared in shock beside Dale, who was shaking his head in disbelief. Glenn studied Rick, then Shane, then traded a look with T-Dog that clearly said, "What now?" Carl held Annie's hand tight and watched his father lead the group towards the CDC.

"All right, everybody, keep moving," he whispered, rifle in hand. Annie nudged Carl towards his mother, pulling her own gun out and moving to cover the group from the left side with Glenn. Daryl and T-Dog had the back while Rick and Shane took the lead. "Stay quiet. Let's go. Keep moving." The closer they got to the doorway, the more bodies there were.

"Keep it together," Shane told them.

"Almost there, baby," Lori whispered to Carl, holding him closer. Rick tried the main entrance. It was locked. He saw an intercom panel, pressed a few buttons, but it was dead.

"Nothing?" Shane asked as he got into a squat and tried to lift it up. It wouldn't budge. He banged on it a few times. Nothing.

"There's nobody here," T-Dog realized.

Rick argued, "Then why are these shutters down?"

"Walkers!" Daryl called out. The kids cried out in fight, looking around as one of the dead soldiers walked towards them, Daryl taking it out with his crossbow. "You led us into a trap!" he accused Rick.

"He made a call!" Shane snapped at him.

"It was a well damn—!"

"Shut up! You hear me? Shut up!" Shane roared, pushing him away from Rick. "Rick, this is a dead end!"

"Where are we gonna go?" Carol cried in a panic.

"Do you hear me?" Shane asked his partner. "No blame!"

"She's right!" Lori added, quaking in fear. "We can't be here this close to the city after dark!" Rick turned back to the doors, panting, looking at them, waiting for a miracle as Shane told him that Fort Benning was still an option.

"On what? No food, no fuel – it's a _hundred_ miles!" Andrea pointed out.

"You think it'll be any better than here?" Annie questioned. "It'll probably be worse!"

"Route 25, I circled the map," Glenn offered.

"Forget Fort Benning! We need answers tonight! Now!" Lori demanded.

Rick turned to them, trying to remain calm and patient, and stated, "We'll think of something!" Shane didn't come to his friend's defense this time. No, this time, he told everyone to get back to the cars. In a panic, everyone started to move away but Annie remained by Rick, trying to pull him with her back to the car. "The camera, it moved!" Everyone looked at him as he stood frozen at the doors, looking up.

"You imagined it," Dale told him.

"It moved. It moved," Rick repeated calmly.

"Rick, it didn't, man. It's an automated device. It cues, okay? It's just one, now come on," Shane reasoned, pulling at his friend's arm but Rick shook him off.

"No!"

"Would you listen to me? Just look around this place! It's dead! It's DEAD!" Rick pushed him off and rushed at the door, pounding on it.

"Rick, there's nobody here!" Lori screamed at him but Rick ignored her, hitting the door again.

"I _know_ you're in there!" he screamed at the camera. "I _know _can hear me! Please! We're desperate! Please, help us! We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left! Nowhere else to go!" Lori left Carl with Carol and ran to her husband, standing in front of him, trying to push him away from the door, begging him to go.

"Walkers!" Annie called out, pulling Carl to her side as more soldiers got up and a few walkers appeared along the road.

"What do we do?" he cried, clutching her waist.

"We trust your dad," she whispered.

"If you don't let us in, you're _killing_ us! PLEASE!" Still no answer and Shane grabbed him.

"Come on, brother! Let's go!"

"You're _killing_ us! Please! You're KILLING us! YOU'RE KILLING US!" A bright light flooded them from behind. The group turned, weapons raised and ready, trading looks in stunned silence. They cautiously approached the entrance as the light disappeared and the group quickly scrambled inside and looked around, amazed and smiling at the feel of air-conditioning. "Hello?" Rick called out cautiously, gun still raised. "Hello?"

"Daryl, cover the back! Close those doors," Shane ordered. "Watch for walkers."

"Hello?" Rick called out again. His response was the sound of a shotgun being cocked. Everyone raised their own guns in response. Rick stared up the hallway to see a man standing there in the shadows.

"Anybody infected?" he called out.

"One of our group was," Rick told him honestly. "He didn't make it."

The man cautious stepped forward and asked, "Why are you here? What do you want?"

"A chance," Rick answered hopefully.

"...That's asking an awful lot these days." All Rick could do was shrug at him.

"I know." The man took a moment to look over the group, at the frightened children and scared women, the men eying him, trying to figure out in they could trust him or not.

"You all submit to a blood test," he told them. "That's the price of admission."

"We can do that," Rick assured him with a nod. The man lowered his gun and told them that, if they had stuff to bring in, they needed to do it now because once the door closed, it stayed closed. Rick, Glenn and Daryl immediately ran out and got what belongings everyone had carried with them.

"I wasn't scared," Annie lied to Carl, a fake yet reassuring smile on her face. "Were you?"

Carl quickly wiped the remnants of tears from his face and answered, "Nope."

"Good boy." The man swiped his key-card on the door panel, it lit up green, and and spoke into the box, telling Vi to seal the main entrance and kill the main power in that area. Immediately, both orders were done and he led the group further into the CDC.

"Rick Grimes," he introduced.

"Dr. Edwin Jenner." As the group was led into the massive elevator, Daryl asked him if doctors always went around packing heat. "Oh, there were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself." Looking around the group, he said, "Well, you look harmless enough." His eyes landed on Carl and he lightly teased, "Except you. I'll have to keep my eyes on you." The moment they were off the elevator, Jenner led them down a series of hallways. Annie sighed in relief and smiled at Rick, squeezing his shoulder as Dale slapped him on the back. He looked around, the group exchanging looks with Rick, acknowledging that he was right. Carol asked if they were underground; to his question if she was claustrophobic, she answered a little and he told to try and not think about it. Great advice, Annie thought with a sneer. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room!" he called out and the lights turned on. "Welcome to Zone 5."

"Where is everyone? The other doctors, the staff?" Rick asked curiously, looking around the vacant room.

"I'm it. It's just me here." Lori asked him about the other person he'd been speaking to. "Vi, say hello to our guests! Tell them...welcome."

_Hello, guests. Welcome._

Jenner stared at the group as they realized Vi was a computer. "I'm all that's left. I'm sorry."

Everyone was led to another room and each took their turn getting blood taken from them. The kids went first, holding their parents' hands. Rick went next, leading the other by example. When it was her turn, Annie sighed heavily and turned her head away as he stuck the needle in, clenching her fists into her pant legs. She'd always hated needles and especially hated doctors. Going her check-ups when she was a kid had always been a nightmare. She nodded at the doctor and rushed as fast as she could back to her seat beside Rick, legs bouncing up and down. Rick stared at her in confusion, wondering what was wrong, but she just shook her head at him.

"All done," Jenner announced. As Andrea stood up, she felt light headed and nearly collapsed but Jacqui caught her. "You okay?"

"She hasn't eaten in days. None of us have," Jacqui explained, helping Andrea to a seat. Jenner looked at each of them and nodded, telling them to follow him.


	11. Chapter 10

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own _The Walking Dead _or any of its characters. I don't even own Annie, she belongs to Sophie, who you can find on YouTube under xSoppySofax. Read on, darlings, and enjoy!

Season 1 is officially over with this chapter! Season 2 starts next Sunday and I'm starting on Season 3 soon.

**Chapter 10**

Everyone gathered around the long table, laughing hard and smiling so big for the first time since the outbreak started. How long had it been? Two months, maybe three? It felt longer. But, for the moment, the night, they could forget all that. Dale was pouring wine for Lori while everyone else drank their own. Four bottles were already on the table, along with a veritable smorgasbord of food. Annie looked around the table, face vacant and eyes hollow. It felt like Thanksgiving or Christmas; the faces were very different, they weren't her family, but it felt very much the same. She tried to pretend, even if just for a little while, that things were normal but she just couldn't do it. Being underground with yet another stranger around her, it just felt wrong. The entire CDC, even Jenner, felt wrong. It was a feeling she just couldn't shake. It seemed too good to be true and Annie remembered what her father always said about things like that.

"You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner," Dale commented, nodding to Carl. "And in France!"

Lori shook her head and replied, "Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then."

"What's it gonna hurt? Come on!" Rick encouraged with a crooked grin. "Come on!" Annie had never seen him like this before and realized that he was a just a little drunk. Lori burst into laughter as she looked at her husband and shrugged, consenting as everyone cheered.

"Here, you go, young lad!" Dale said, passing the glass to him. Carl took a sip with a smile and everyone looked at him in anticipation. Annie smirked at Rick and he snorted with laughter when he caught her gaze, both of them ducking their heads.

"EWWW!"

"That's my boy," Lori commented, kissing her sons head as he pushed the glass away and everyone laughed. "That's my boy."

"It tastes nasty!" he said, shaking his head, but his mother ignored him in favor of taking his bit of wine and dumping it into her own glass.

"You stick to soda pop there, bud," Shane told him.

"Not you, Glenn," Daryl stated and Glenn looked at him with a confused smile. "Keep drinking, little man, I wanna see how red your face can get!" Annie almost spit out her wine at the comical look of Daryl's face, making everyone around her laugh even harder as they looked at her. When she finally managed to swallow her wine, she ducked her head, a little embarrassed. The room soon quieted down as Rick tapped a knife on his glass and rose to his feet.

"Seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly," he told them.

"He is _more _than just our host," T-Dog slurred, raising his glass.

"Booyah!" Daryl toned and everyone copied him, saying their thanks and clinking glasses with each other.

"So when you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" Shane asked, looking over at the morose man. "All the, uh, the other doctors, they were supposed to be figuring out what happened? Where are they?"

"We're celebrating, Shane," Rick warned kindly. "Don't need to do this now." Shane countered him, reminding him that coming to the CDC was Rick's move, where they were going to find answers when, really, all they found was Jenner.

"Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just...left. Went off to be with their families," Jenner answered politely. "And, when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted."

"Every last one?" Shane asked skeptically.

"No. Many couldn't face walking out the door. They...opted out," he answered seriously, staring Shane down. Everyone bowed their heads, some shifting uncomfortably and others taking long drinks of their wine. "There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time."

Andrea, with a shaky breath, asked, "You didn't leave, why?"

"I just kept working. Hoping. To do some good."

Glenn hopped off the counter and walked over, telling Jenner with a frown, "Dude, you are such a buzz-kill, man." Dinner was over, the mood sufficiently killed, and Jenner led them out of the mess hall and into another series of hallways, knowing they'd want to get some rest.

"Most of the facilities powered down, including housing so you'll have to make due here. Couches are comfortable but there are cots in storage, if you like. There's a rec room down that hall that you kids might enjoy, just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power." Both Carl and Sophia nodded obediently. "Same applies," he added, looking at all the adults. "If you shower, go easy on the hot water." As he walked away, the group looked at one another.

""Hot water"?" Glenn echoed, flabbergasted.

"That's what the man said," T-Dog replied with a grin. Annie watched everyone disperse, moving into their own rooms to settle for the night. Rick let Lori and Carl go into a room first and caught sight of Annie, leaning against the wall and looking down the hallway. Walking over, he touched her shoulder and she jumped, apologizing for being jumpy.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know," she answered, shaking her head. "It's just this feeling I have, can't shake it."

"You don't have to be afraid anymore," Rick assured her with a strong hand rubbing her shoulder and a smile. "We're safe here." Annie nodded slowly and Rick grinned at her, hugging her tight and chuckling in her ear.

"Are you drunk?" Rick just chuckled away and pulled away, passing her the other bottle of wine he held with a quick peck on the cheek. Moving, or rather stumbling, into his room, he wished her a goodnight with a big smile.

Annie, with no other choice, chose the room next to Rick's. After closing the door, Annie sat on the couch and dumped out the contents from her pack beside her. Inside were an assortment of things: two other big sheathed knives, a Swiss Army knife, a half-full box of ammo, sunglasses, matches, a compass, clean clothes – socks, underwear, two bras, about seven rolled up shirts, three pairs of pants, and a hoodie – her canteen that had a little water left, two empty water bottles and books. Opening the first aid kit, she surveyed the meager supplies with a frown. Tweezers, aspirin, a tiny suture kit, disinfectant pads, iodine, vitamin capsules, even a pair of latex gloves and sunscreen. There were still some adhesive band-aids and gauze pads but no more bandages as Dale had used the whole roll on the RV's hose, but that was it. She'd have to restock, if given the chance. Moving into the bathroom, she turned on the sink faucet and let it fill up the canteen and bottles. She didn't know how long they'd be there and this would probably be the last opportunity she'd have to fill them up. Clean water was a precious commodity now. She'd save her water for tomorrow but, for tonight, she'd drink the wine.

Using the Swiss Army knife, she pulled out the cork and took a deep swig of the red wine. Bitter and sweet, perfection. Sitting on the couch with a sigh, she picked up one of the six other books – _Watership Down_ by Richard Adams – and flipped through it until the bookmark fell out. But it wasn't just a bookmark, it was two pictures. She gingerly grabbed the photos and turned them over, staring at the faces in them. She was there, smiling bigger than than had in her whole life, in both but the faces around her were very different. In one, it was the boys, her boys, from the shop, her surrogate brothers, uncles and fathers. In the other one, it was her father. She couldn't have been older than fifteen, maybe sixteen, and she could see the farm in the background, her childhood home. She hadn't lied when she told Rick she hadn't been on a horse in years. After her father died, she'd let the bank take the farm and sell it, something she both regretted and was thankful for. She'd been twenty, trying to start a career and failing miserably, and didn't need the added stress of a farm. It had been over ten years since she'd even set foot on country soil, the past month being the grand exception.

Tears ran down her cheeks as she took another long drain of the wine. Setting the bottle between her legs, Annie sobbed into her hands, running her hands through her hair and squeezing tight. Her family was dead, both real and surrogate if her brief trip to Atlanta was anything to go by. She was alone, completely and utterly alone. Well, not completely. There were the others, most of them seemed like perfectly nice people, but how long would that last? Before she found Morgan, she'd seen perfectly nice people turn on their friends. Annie just wanted it all to stop, she wanted to stop caring for people, stop watching them die and unable to do anything. Hell, she didn't even know if Morgan and Duane were alive and she wasn't so sure she could hold to that hope anymore. A hand on her cheek, she wiped the tears away and took another drink before setting almost empty bottle on the floor and laid down. Her skin felt warm, whether it was from the alcohol or the innocent kiss Rick had given her, she didn't know.

Here it was, the first night she might actually get some real sleep and she couldn't sleep at all.

* * *

The following morning, Annie showered and drank water straight from the sink faucet in an attempt to clear her foggy head. What she wouldn't give for a Gatorade, best morning-after hangover cure there ever was. Of course, hair of the dog was good as well, she remembered and polished off what was left in the bottle of wine. The moment she was dressed, she stumbled out into the hall and slowly made her way to the mess, hoping to fill her growling stomach. A hand on her shoulder startled her but made her would-be attacker chuckle. Rolling her eyes, she lightly smacked Rick's chest and walked beside him. He was hungover as well, it seemed, but in better spirits than her. As they walked into the kitchen, she noted that everyone with the exception of Jenner and Shane were already there and eating. He took a seat at the head of the table, Lori to his right, Carl next to her, and Annie across from him. Most of the group was already gathered around the table, T-Dog cooking them a perfect breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, cereal and toast. He'd even found orange juice. Glenn was on her right, groaning pathetically into his empty plate, looking rather green when T-Dog piled eggs onto his plate.

"Where'd all this come from?" Rick asked, holding up a bottle of aspirin.

"Jenner. He thought we could use it," his wife replied, opening the bottle for him as he thanked her. "Some of us at least," she added, smirking at Glenn.

"Don't ever, ever, ever let me drink again," he begged, as Shane walked in and headed straight for the coffee.

"Feel as bad as I do?" Rick called out.

"Worse." As he turned to the table, T-Dog asked him what the hell happened to him and nodded to the scratched on his neck. "Must've done it in my sleep."

"Never seen you do that before," Rick commented.

"Me neither. Not like me at all." Annie sipped at her juice, eyes moving back and forth between Shane and Lori from the rim of the glass. Lori was doing her best not to look at him but Annie saw and she could guess what those scratches on Shane's neck were from, _who_ they were from.

"Good morning," Jenner announced, following Shane's fashion and making his way to the coffee.

"Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing..." Dale began hesitantly.

"But you will anyway," Jenner interjected with a wry smile. Andrea told him that they didn't come there for the eggs and, with no other choice, Jenner led them back to the big room. "Give me playback of TS-19," he told Vi.

The big screen lit up, showing a brain – an extraordinary one, Jenner told them, not that it mattered anymore. Vi took them in for an enhanced internal view and they watched silently at the millions of lights going on. Jenner told them that those lights were synaptic impulses that determined everything a person said, thought or did from birth to death. He told them that, in all that organic wiring, it was experiences and memories, the thing that made them all unique and human. The video, Rick realized, was a playback of the vigil of an individual who had been bitten and volunteered to be tested. Vi scanned forward to the first event and they watched as a blackness crept into the brain. It was the virus, Jenner told them, and it invaded the brain like meningitis causing the adrenal glands to hemorrhage, the brain to shut down followed by the major organs, then death. As soon as the word left his mouth, the brain on screen went completely black. Sophia asked if that was what happened to Jim and her mother gently told her yes. Off to the side, Annie saw Andrea and knew she was thinking of her sister.

Vi moved on to the second event and Jenner told them that resurrection time varied; the quickest he'd ever heard was three minutes, the longest was eight hours. In the case of his patient, it had been two hours, one minute, seven seconds. Eyes on the screen, everyone watched in morbid fascination as a reddish light blinked on and pulsed in the brain. It got bigger and bigger and Jenner told them it restarted just the brain stem to get them up and moving. He told them that the frontal lobe, the neo-cortex, the part that made them, them – the "you" part – didn't come back. Shells, that's all the walkers were, shells, empty husks. A beam of light burst through the brain and Andrea told them, upon Carol's gasped question, that Jenner had shot his patient. Instead of answering, although it seemed pretty obvious to Annie that, that was exactly what had happened, Jenner told Vi to power down the main screen and workstations, which it did immediately. Andrea accused him them, saying he had no idea what it was. He just told her that it could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal or even the wrath of God as Jacqui had pointed out.

"Somebody _must_ know something. _Somebody_, _somewhere_," Andrea insisted.

"There are others, right? Other facilities?" Carol asked hopefully.

"There may be some. People like me," he admitted.

Confused, Rick stepped forward and asked, "But you don't know? How can you _not _know?"

"Everything went down – communications, directives, all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month."

"So it's not just here? There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're _really_ saying, right?" Andrea accused but he didn't answer. Everyone took his silence in as all the confirmation they needed. "Jesus," she scoffed.

"Man, I wanna get shitfaced drunk. Again," Daryl commented, pacing and hands rubbing his face.

"Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question," Dale said patiently, walking towards the electronic clock on the opposite wall, "but that clock, it's counting down." Annie looked over and saw that the clock read 00:00:59:59; just under one hour. "What happens at zero?"

Hesitantly, he moved away from the group a bit and answered, "The, uh, basement generators, they run out of fuel." Rick asked what happened then but Jenner didn't answer. He just walked away, so Rick asked Vi and it told them that, when the power ran out, facility wide decontamination would occur.

"Decontamination, what does that mean?" Glenn asked, trying not to sound panicked.

"I don't know, but I don't like the sound of it," Annie told him, arms crossed and shifting nervously.

"Let's go find out," Rick stated. He, Shane, Glenn, T-Dog went in search of the basement. Not taking any chances, Annie rushed back to her room and started packing. She'd only been there a few minutes when the lights flickered off and on. Something else was different as well. Moving underneath the vent in the ceiling, she realized that the air-conditioning stopped as well. The lights flickered again, turning off completely. Grabbing her pack, she quickly shoved everything inside and went out into the hall just in time to see Jenner stride past, grabbing Daryl's bottle of liquor.

"Energy use is being prioritized," he told them.

"Air isn't a priority? Lights?" Dale questioned in confusion as the lights went off completely.

Jenner took a drink and told him, "It's not up to me. Zone 5 is shutting itself down."

"Hey!" Daryl shouted after him. "Hey, what the hell's that mean?" Jenner ignored him, continuing his trek back into the main room. "Hey, I'm talking you! What do you mean it's shutting itself down? How can a building do anything?"

"You'd be surprised," he replied tonelessly.

"Rick!" Lori called, looking over the edge of the catwalk, spotting their missing members running underneath. Everyone followed Jenner down the stairs, meeting up with their people as Rick asked him what was happening.

"The system is dropping all the non-essential uses of power," he explained, not stopping in his journey. "It's designed to keep the computers running until the last possible second. That starts as we approach the half hour mark. Right on schedule," he commented, pointing to the clock. 00:00:31:28. The doctor took one last big drink, shoulders hunched as he passed the bottle back to Daryl, who snatched it from him in agitation. "It was the French," he told them, walking up the steps to the bank of computers. "They were the last ones to hold out, far as I know. While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs until the end. They thought they were close to a solution."

"What happened?" Jacqui asked.

"Same thing that's happening here: no power grid. Ran out of juice," he answered. "The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how _stupid _is that?"

"Let me tell you something—!"

"The hell with it, Shane! I don't even care!" Rick yelled and grabbed him, stopping him from attacking Jenner. "Lori, grab our things! Everybody, get your stuff, we're getting out of here! NOW!" Everybody nodded and bolted back to their rooms just as an alarm started blaring.

"What's that?" Annie questioned, standing frozen and clutching the straps of her pack as everyone froze around her. The main screen lit up with the red clock, counting down. Thirty minutes, that was all they had.

"Doc, what's going on?" Daryl shouted but Jenner was in his own little world.

"Everybody, y'all heard Rick! Get your stuff and let's go! Go now!" Shane ordered, T-Dog leading the way back to the rooms. A steel door behind Rick, their exit, suddenly sprung up from the ground and the men stared at it in shock.

"Did you just lock us in?" Glenn exclaimed. "He just locked us in!" Jenner sat down at a computer and began speaking to it. The man really had lost his mind.

"You son of bitch!" Daryl screamed, charging at the doctor but Shane grabbed him before he could smash the bottle over his head.

"Jenner, open that door now," Rick demanded calmly. Jenner told him that there was no point, that everything topside was locked down, the emergency exits were sealed and he couldn't open them because he didn't control them, the computers did.

"I told you, once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that!" he reminded and Rick began to pace, looking at the people he'd led into this death trap. "It's better this way."

"What is?" he asked. "What happens in twenty-eight minutes?" Jenner sighed, not answering as he turned back to the computer, but Rick kicked his chair. "What happens in twenty-eight minutes?!"

"Do you know what this place is?" Jenner shouted,rising to his feet. "We protected the public from _very_ nasty stuff!" he shouted in Shane's face, unafraid. "Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! STUFF YOU DON'T WANT GETTING OUT! EVER!" Everyone stared at him in stunned silence as he readjusted his lab coat and sat back at the computer console. "In the even of a catastrophic power failure, in a terrorist attack, for example, HITs are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."

"HITs?" Vi informed them that HITs were High Impulse Thermobaric fuel air explosives that consisted of a two stage aerosol ignition that produced a blast wave than any other explosion known, over six thousands degrees in temperature.

"It sets the air on fire," Jenner told them. "No pain. An end to sorrow, grief...regret. Everything." Daryl ran to door and chucked his bottle at it.

"Open the damn door!" he screamed as Annie started pounding on it with a nearby chair. She was not going to die, not like this, not after everything that had happened. Shane shouted for her to get out of the way as he started pounding on it with an ax. T-Dog found more and chucked one to both Annie and Daryl, who joined him. Behind them, they could vaguely hear Jenner saying they should have left well enough alone.

"This is your fault!" she screamed at him, ready to attack but Dale gently pushed her away. Pissed, she went back to stand with Shane and Daryl, swinging and pounding at the door. But nothing happened, they couldn't make a dent and Shane told Rick just that.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher," Jenner told them.

Daryl and Shane had given up on the door but not Annie, she kept pounding and pounding at it. She ignored Daryl trying to kill Jenner, ignored Jenner accusing Rick of saying that he knew everyone was going to die, that there was no hope, that this was their extinction event. She needed to get out, she needed to live, she needed to make sure Morgan and Duane were safe. Behind her, she heard a gun cock and saw Shane point it at Jenner and scream, shooting at a bank of computers nearby. Rick fought him for the gun, causing the lights to be shot, and nearly knocked him out with it but let him up instead. Rick looked around at everyone and looked back at Jenner, telling him that he was lying about there being no hope because he chose the hard path of staying alive and working while others ran and killed themselves. Jenner told them that his wife was TS-19 but Annie didn't care, she went back to pounding at the door and Daryl joined her soon. The two of them watched the others in between pounds, Annie hoping that Rick could talk sense into the man to let them go. A moment later, the steel door lowered and everybody made a break for the door. Annie held back, watching Rick as Jenner whispered to him.

"Hey! We got four minutes left! Come on!" Glenn shouted.

"Rick, come on!" she screamed and bolted as Rick finally joined them. Annie watched as T-Dog bid Jacqui farewell, she said she was staying, that she didn't want to end up like Amy or Jim. Andrea said she was staying as well and Dale told them all to go, staying behind and rushing to Andrea.

The group bolted up the stairwell, T-Dog's flashlight leading the way through the dark. When they finally got back to the entrance, Annie rushed at the doors and tried to push them open but they wouldn't budge. She pushed harder and harder, frantic. Nothing. It was just like the one downstairs, she couldn't make a dent. T-Dog tried the panel, pushing various buttons but nothing worked. Annie picked up her ax and started pounding at the windows with Daryl and Shane but they didn't even make a scratch. T-Dog tried a chair, Shane shot at it. Still nothing. The glass wouldn't break. It didn't matter than Jenner had let them out from below, they couldn't get out above. Carol ran over and pulled out a grenade, one she'd found in Rick's pocket when she did his laundry that first morning. As he rushed to the window, everyone hid and waited. Just as Rick jumped to safety, the window blasted open. The next moments were frantic and frightening as everyone jumped out of the CDC window and bolted for the cars, Shane and Rick shooting walkers around them as Annie and Daryl took axes to their heads; she even saw Daryl decapitate one. Everyone piled into the cars, Rick and his family with Carol and Sophia piling into the RV while Annie jumped into the Cherokee. Just as she started the car, she looked up and saw Andrea and Dale climbing out of the window.

Noticing the time, she leaned her head out the window and shouted, "Get down!" She could hear Rick honking the RV's horn in front her and threw herself to the floor of the car. The ground shook and she could feel the heat through the open window. Sitting up, she saw the CDC a pile of rubble and flames. Andrea and Dale ran into the RV, safe and unharmed and Annie sighed heavily. Shaking, started the car and followed the RV in a U-turn back onto the highway. In the rear view mirror, she could see the smoldering rubble and thick, black smoke rising.

What were they going to do now? Where were they going to go?


	12. Chapter 11

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own _The Walking Dead _or any of its characters. I don't even own Annie, she belongs to Sophie, who you can find on YouTube under xSoppySofax. Read on, darlings, and enjoy!

Sorry about the lateness, everyone. Well, it's not that late. It's just a little after midnight where I'm at. Been a busy day! Anyway, this chapter marks the season of the second season. If you're still reading, I know, the first ten chapters are rough to get through and, hey, you survived! You are awesome! I haven't started season three yet, because I've been preoccupied with my _Fast & Furious_ story; with _Fast Six_ out and the seventh installment coming out next year, I need to get a move on finishing _Fast Five_! Anyway, read on and enjoy because the further development of Rick and Annie's relationship starts with this season!

**Chapter 11**

"I guess I'm losing hope that you can here me, hear us. But there's always that chance, isn't there? That _slim_ chance. It seems it's always about slim chances now. I look at Rick and I see him trying so hard, trying to do everything right, keep people safe. He really has tried, Morgan. The group's smaller now. The day before last, they lost someone. It was her choice and I can't say I blame her when you see the world for what it is now. But Rick...he just takes it so hard. I tell him that it's not his fault, that she made her own choice, but it weighs on him. He's scared, same as the rest of us. He just won't admit it.

"The CDC was a dead end. We met a man there, a scientist. He told us that whatever this thing is, it's global. He said there's nothing left out in the world for us, but there has to be something, don't you think? I suppose, in the end, it doesn't matter. What matters is, we're moving on. Atlanta's done, we're gonna try for Fort Benning. We're facing a long hard journey, maybe even harder than I can imagine. But it can't be harder than our journey's been so far, can it? One hundred twenty-five miles, that's what lies ahead and I'm trying hard not to lose hope. I can see Rick struggling as well, but he won't admit it. If he does, the others, his family, they'll lose faith in him.

"There's just a few of us now so we gotta stick together, fight for each other. Be willing to lay down our lives for each other if it comes to that. It's the only chance we've got. The kids here, I'd die for them in a heartbeat. Carl, Rick's son, he reminds me so much of Duane. I miss you both _so_ much. Be careful out there, Morgan. I hope you and Duane are okay. Stay off the road. Keep moving. Keep your eyes open. I don't know, just...just be safe. Maybe I'll see you in Fort Benning someday.

"Annie, signing off."

* * *

The caravan traveled at a depressing pace. The roads were empty, save them, save their sad little caravan. Daryl had ditched his truck in favor of his brother's motorcycle, leading them down the same highway that she and Rick had once been on, on horseback. They'd stop every so often to siphon fuel off whatever cars they passed when they could. Whenever they stopped, whether it was for gas or to go to the bathroom, Annie's eyes would always find Rick. He looked haggard and exhausted, mentally and physically. The others either didn't notice or didn't say anything but she did. Every time they stopped, Lori would hover around Rick and hold him, kiss him; it made her sick. Not just because Shane would watch them, his eyes fixed on Lori, but because of a twisting in her stomach. What made matters worse was that she had to be in the same car as them seemingly happy family. The last time they'd stopped, she asked Daryl if he wouldn't mind her riding with him.

"Hang on tight and don't fall off," he told her and she nodded, grabbing her pack from the Cherokee.

"Annie, where are you going?" Carl asked inquisitively, hanging out the window. Rick walked over, patting his son's head. "Dad, Annie's leaving." Rick looked at her, brow raised questioningly.

"Just to ride with Daryl. Getting a little crowded in here," she answered, walking towards the crossbow toting redneck.

Following after her, Rick said, "There's plenty of room. You know that. What's the problem?" Annie didn't respond so he grabbed her arm and turned her to look at him. "Annie? If this is about Morgan—"

"It's not," she interjected. "I just need some space. I need time."

"I know it's hard, not hearing from him. It's hard for me, too," he told her compassionately, hands on her shoulders. Annie sighed deeply and closed her eyes, head ducked so he couldn't see her face. "We'll keep trying. We'll get to Fort Benning and, who knows, maybe he'll already be there."

"Maybe," she whispered. "But I'll get there on Daryl's bike," she added firmly, walking backwards with a weak smile. Daryl impatiently revved the motorcycle as she climbed on and adjusted herself. The caravan was back on the road again, traveling as quickly and quietly as they could. "Jesus," she breathed, spotting the mess of cars up ahead. "Can you get through that mess?" she called over the wind.

"Let's find out!" he replied and revved the bike, pushing it forward. Luckily, there was a clear path for a good ways. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the caravan had stopped and taped his shoulder. Daryl nodded as she pointed to their group and turned the bike around. Heading for the RV, Daryl stopped and looked up at Dale.

"You see a way through?" Dale asked and Daryl nodded, turning around to lead the RV through the overcrowded highway of abandoned cars. Annie tried to ignore the dead bodies inside them, remembering what happened the last time she'd been around cars with bodies in them. A whistling noise behind them drew her attention and she looked over her shoulder, spotting the smoke streaming from the RV. Tapping his shoulder again, Daryl stopped the bike and they hopped off. It lasted almost two days, pathetic.

"Problem, Dale?" Annie asked, walking up to the group with Daryl.

"Just the small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of..." Dale looked around then back at Annie's smirking face. "Okay, that was dumb."

"If we can't find a radiator hose here, then we're just plain stupid and don't deserve to drive," she joked and pat the older man's shoulder.

"Whole bunch of stuff we could find," Daryl commented, rooting through the open trunk of a car nearby.

"Siphon more fuel from these cars for a start," T-Dog added.

"Maybe some water?"

Glenn nodded at Carol, adding, "Food."

"This is a graveyard," Lori stated, shifting behind the others. Everyone stopped moving and shared an uncomfortable look, torn between agreeing with her and telling her to shut up. "I don't know how I feel about this."

She was overruled and everyone started to look around, gathering what they could. Annie got the tools from the RV and, after splitting what she needed and didn't with Dale, set about find an appropriate hose. She'd get the hose while him and Glenn got rid of the old one. Let the other women finding food, clothes, let the men get the gas; Annie knew what her strengths were and she was going to stick to them. The sooner she found a hose, the sooner they could get back on the road and out of the open; they were sitting ducks on the highway. Her gun was snug in the back of her pants, her knife on her thigh with a holster Daryl gave her. She wasn't going to take any chances. Her eyes immediately found a big truck that looked around the same size at the cube van they originally were going to use. She popped the hood and looked at the engine, laughing and waving Glenn over. Shane was with him, for protection, but she easily ignored him at the beautiful sight. This hose would work perfectly. She took the flat-head from Glenn and set to work, explaining to him what she was doing and how to do it properly without cutting yourself, as she had done a few times when she first learned how.

"You try," Annie told him and passed him the flat-head. Glenn groaned as he took the tool and approached the engine uncertainly. "Man up. I already got it halfway done for you."

"Hey, guys. Were we short on water?" Shane asked and both turned to see Shane pop off the lid on a five gallon water jug. The water spilled out onto him and he laughed, letting it wash over his head and back, drinking some of it.

Glenn laughed, "Hey, save me some!"

"It's like being baptized, man!" Annie laughed and patted Glenn on the back, throwing her pack on the ground, digging inside for her two empty water bottles and canteen. All had been emptied by Carl and Sophia, something she was happy to do, and rushed over to the water truck. Popping off another lid, she squealed with laughter as if splashed her face and shirt; it wasn't cold because the system of the truck probably died, but it was still somewhat cool and, in the current heat, it felt like heaven. Glenn complained to her while she was filling up her bottles that she should let him take a break and do that. "You mind that hose, Glenn. Annie and I will take care of the water!" Shane laughed but stopped abruptly.

Shane grabbed Glenn and pulled him under the truck. Annie looked at them in confusion until she heard him hissing for her to get under a car. That was when she heard it, the familiar shuffling and groaning and quickly skidded down the slight hill to hide under the nearest car. She watched, hand over her mouth to hide her breathing, as the dead walked by. There were so many, she couldn't understand it; they'd never seen this many outside of the city, not even that night at the quarry. She reached behind her as quietly as she could, trying not to bump the parts above her and cut herself, much less make any noise. Her gun, it was gone. Panic set in and looking around as much as she could, she could see it on the ground, just out of reach as walkers walked over it. Perfect, the damn thing must have slid out when she skidded underneath the car. A moment passed and all the feet disappeared. She waited a breath, looking around and listening. She didn't hear anything for a moment and slowly slid out from underneath, grabbing her Beretta. At the sound of screaming, Annie jumped up from her crouched and looked around. Sophia, running into the woods, two walkers behind her, Rick not far behind. Annie didn't think, she just bolted and jumped over the guardrail after them.

"You see her?" she asked and Rick nodded, grabbing her arm and leading the way. The ran through the woods, moving around the walkers until they finally caught Sophia.

"Shh-shh-shh-shh-shh!" he whispered to Sophia. "Are you all right? Are you okay?"

"Shoot them!" she told him, reaching for his gun but Rick pulled her back.

"No! Those walkers on the road would hear it. Then it wouldn't be just two, it'd be hundreds," he told her calmly.

Sophia whimpered and Annie knelt down, pushing her hair back as the little girl hugged her and Rick. The man quickly picked her up as Annie put her gun away and pulled out her knife, looking over her shoulder for the walkers as Rick led them deeper into the woods. When they got to a creek, Rick set her down and she clung to Annie, both of them watching as Rick jumped down. Annie passed Sophia to him and he helped her down with his free hand, pulling her with him through the knee high water, looking for a place to hide. Annie spotted a cluster of tree roots and hurried pointed them out to Rick, who ran over to them and set the terrified girl down.

"Sophia, you have to do exactly as I say. Hide in there, squeeze in tight. We'll draw them away from you."

"No! No, no, no, don't leave me," she cried.

"Listen, listen, listen, listen," Rick calmly shushed, "they don't get winded, we do and we can only deal with them one at a time."

"We don't know if there are more in these woods, sweetie. If there are, we wouldn't be able to protect you."

"This is how we all survive, you understand?" Sophia nodded, trying to be brave. Annie gently pushed her into the dark cluster. "If we don't make it back, run back to the highway, back to the others, straight the way we came, keep the sun on your left shoulder." Annie touched Rick's shoulder, nodding up as the two walkers appeared at the top of the hill. "You got another knife?" he asked, seeing her pull hers out beside him.

"In my pack, back on the highway," she apologized.

"Damn it," he cursed under his breath. "You ugly son of a bitch. Come on!" he shouted, slapping water at walkers and backing up.

One of the walkers spilled into the water, chasing Rick while the other remained uphill. Rick shouted at them, leading them further and further away from Sophia, tripping through the water. When they got a good head start, Annie pushed Rick ahead and gestured for him to be quiet as she hid behind a tree. The moment she heard the first walker get close, she whipped out from around the tree and stabbed it through the eye. It fell to the ground, really dead, taking her with it. Her knife was so buried in its skull that, when the second walker appeared, panic set in and she pulled furiously at the knife. Just when she thought she was a goner, a giant rock flew from behind her and bashed the walker in the face Looking over her shoulder, she spotted Rick stumbling forward, panting. He completely bypassed her, picking up the rock, straddled the walker and smashed its face in.

"Stupid, piece of shit," Annie gritted through clenched teeth, still struggling with her knife. Rick walked over and eased her out of the way, grasping the knife with both hands while his foot held the walker down and pulled it out with ease. "Thanks," she said, taking it back with an embarrassed flush.

"You okay?" he asked, checking her over in concern, hands cupping her face. "You sure?" She nodded, insisting she was fine. "All right, lets get Sophia and get back to the others. We need to keep moving."


	13. Chapter 12

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own _The Walking Dead _or any of its characters. I don't even own Annie, she belongs to Sophie, who you can find on YouTube under xSoppySofax. Read on, darlings, and enjoy!

**Chapter 12**

"You sure this is the spot?" Daryl asked, looking at the two of them. Sophia hadn't been where they'd left her so they went back to the highway, figuring she'd done as Rick said and went back. But she hadn't been there either. Carol was inconsolable as Rick, Annie, Daryl and Shane went back into the woods to search for her little girl.

"We left her right here," Rick repeated and pointed ahead of him. "We drew the walkers way off in that direction up the creek."

"She was gone by the time we got back here," Annie told him, shaking her head looking around. "We figured she'd just took off back to the group."

"I _told_ her to go that way and keep the sun on her _left_ shoulder," Rick added insistently.

"Hey, Short Round!" Daryl called up to Glenn. "Would you step off to one side? You're mucking up the trail!"

"Assuming she knows her left from her right," Shane commented skeptically.

"She's the same age as Carl, does he know?" Annie snapped at him as Rick assured him that she understood him fine.

"Kids tired and scared, man. She had her a close call with two walkers. Kinda wonder how much what gets stuck," Shane argued. Daryl called them over and pointed out that he had clear prints, definitely Sophia's; she had listened to Rick and headed back toward the group. The group spread out, saying that she couldn't have gotten very far. "Hey, we're gonna find her. Probably tuckered out, hiding in the bushes somewhere."

They followed the trail until it stopped, veering off in another direction. They speculated that it could have been a walker that scared her off, but Daryl didn't find any other footprints. Rick told Shane, Glenn and Annie to head back up to the highway. He wanted them to assure them, especially Carol, that they were on her trail and keep them calm. Shane assured him that he'd keep them occupied by scavenging cars and any other chores he could think of. Annie told him that he'd need them to start pushing cars out of their way to turn the RV around, double-back. Rick insisted that she go back to the highway but she refused.

"I'm just as responsible for this as you are. I'm going," she told him and wouldn't hear another word about it, following after Daryl. Eventually, the man slowed down and Rick assumed the trail was gone.

"Tracks faint. They ain't gone," the hunter announced, carefully stepping through the foliage, eyes fixed on the ground. "She came through here?"

"How do can you tell?" Rick asked, fascinated. "I don't see anything. Dirt, grass—"

"You want a lesson in tracking or you wanna find that girl, get our ass off that interstate?" Rick immediately shut his mouth, stepping where Daryl stepped, sufficiently silenced on the matter. Daryl knew what he was doing, this was his field of expertise; far be it for him to question that. A brushing of leaves sent them quickly to a crouch and they moved forward. Just over the hill was a lone walker. Daryl gestured for one of them to go forward, draw its attention while he snuck around behind it. After pushing Annie to go with Daryl, which she did with hushed protests, Rick walked into the walkers view and whistled sharply. The walker growled at him before dropping dead, one of Daryl's arrows through its forehead. "Sophia!" Daryl called out. Nothing.

"What you doing?" she asked as Rick pulled on his gloves and knelt over the walker.

"Skin under the fingernails," he told them. Fear flooded Annie's veins as Rick flipped the walker over and told them it fed recently.

"Christ," she whispered, hands at her mouth. Rick said that there was flesh caught in its teeth and Annie clenched her own teeth together to keep from puking as they started cutting the walker open. If the sound was bad, the smell was worse; it drifted over to her and gagged, covering her mouth and turning her back on the men. Everything inside the walker, all its organ, they were black goo.

"Yeah, Hoss had a big meal not long ago. I can feel it in there," Daryl said and proceeded to dump the stomach onto the forest floor. Annie looked over her shoulder and watched them root through it before Daryl's knife pulled out a tiny skull. "This gross bastard had himself a woodchuck for lunch."

"At least we know," Rick stated as they chucked the skull away.

"At least we know," Daryl echoed.

Annie squeezed Rick's shoulder, telling him, "We'll find her. But it's getting dark. We should head back." Rick started to protest but Daryl agreed, telling him it would do no good to try and track her when he couldn't see anything. "You're a cop, you know this. It'll be fine. We'll pick it up in the morning." When they got back to the highway, it was already dusk and Carol burst into tears when she saw them without her daughter.

"You didn't find her?!"

"Her trail went cold. We'll pick it up again, first light," Rick promised her.

"You _can't_ leave my daughter out there on her own! To spend the night, alone in the woods!"

"Hunting in the dark's no good," Daryl told her, trying to calm her down. "We'd just be tripping over ourselves. More people get lost."

"But she's twelve! She can't be out there on her own! You didn't find _anything_?!"

"I know this is hard but I'm asking you not to panic. We _know_ she was out there." Daryl chimed in, assuring Carol that they'd tracked Sophia for awhile. "We have to make this an organized effort. Daryl knows the woods better than anybody. I've asked him to oversee this."

"Is that, is that blood?" Carol gasped and Daryl looked down at his pants, paling when he realized where the woman's mind went. Rick told her that they took down a walker, assuring her that there was no sign it was anywhere near Sophia. When asked how they could possibly know that, Daryl told them they'd cut it open to make sure. Carol slowly sat on the guardrail, feeling faint. "How could you just leave her out there to begin with? How could you just _leave _her?!"

"Those two walkers were on us," Rick told her. "I had, _we_ had to draw them off, it was her best chance.

"Sounds like they didn't have a choice, Carol," Shane said.

"How's she supposed to find a way back on her own?" Carol cried. "She's just a child! She's just a child!"

Rick knelt before her and tried to make her understand, earnestly repeating, "It was our only option. The only choice we could make." Shane assured him that he was sure nobody doubted that.

"My little girl got left in the woods..." Rick shook his head and rose to his feet, looking at everyone. They either didn't know what to say, didn't blame him or they absolutely did. Rick couldn't take it and walked away from the group, running his hands through his hair. Annie, unable to bear the accusing looks Carol and Lori were giving her, followed after Rick.

"We'll find her, Rick. You heard Daryl, she couldn't have gotten far," she assured him but Rick just looked at the ground, continuing to walk in an unknown direction. "For all we know, she climbed up a tree or found a cave to hide in. I'm sure there's some scattered all over these woods.."

"Then why wouldn't she call out to us?" he posed angrily. "She would've heard us calling for her if she was still—" Annie swung him around and slapped him hard.

"Talk like that doesn't help anybody," she stated firmly, glaring at him in shock. "Don't even _think _that she's gone. You do that and she really is. If you don't believe she's alive, then why should anyone else?"

Rick stared at and took a breath. Sighing, he whispered morosely, "All these people, they look to me and I don't even know why."

"Because they can," she told him with a soft smile, caressing his face. "Because they can see that you're a good man. Just like I do."

* * *

The next morning, Dale handed over the bag of weapons Carl had found and given to him, under Shane's orders. Rick unrolled them on the hood of his Cherokee, telling everyone that they were searching with a weapon from the roll. Andrea stated that they weren't the kind of weapons they needed, demanding the guns, but Shane reminded her that if someone fired at the wrong moment and that herd happened to be going by again, then they'd all be dead. Daryl told them that they were going to take the creek up five miles then come back around the other side because, chances were, with the creek as Sophia's only landmark, that's where she'd be. Rick laid down the rules: stay quiet, stay sharp, keep space between one another but always been in sight of the group. Dale stayed behind to continue with the repairs while they were gone, wanting to make sure it was finished by the time they got back, with Sophia, ready to hit the road. Annie went off to try and make contact with Morgan and Duane on the walkie again but there was no response, as usual. When she came back, everyone was awkwardly silent, staring at Andrea and Dale. Confused, she walked over the guardrail and waited. She knew all too well that the hose on the RV was fixed so she told Rick he could handle the repairs; she wanted to be with him on the search.

As they headed into the woods, Shane bringing up the rear, Glenn walked beside Annie and asked, "Hey, what were you doing in Atlanta?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you were with Rick but you met him, what, the day before? You just went with him into the city of dead?" he asked with an incredulous tone. "Just curious why. Did you have family there?"

"Sort of," she answered cautiously. "My family is dead."

"Oh, my God! I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he apologized profusely and Annie smiled at him. Glenn really was a sweet kid. "Was it...?"

"Walkers? No. No, thankfully." Glenn sighed in relief, happy that he hadn't stuck his foot in his mouth. "My dad passed about thirteen years ago, cancer, and my mom died when I was just a kid, accident on the farm."

""Farm"?" Rick echoed up ahead of them, looking back at her with a smile. "You're a farmer's daughter?"

"Yeah. Got a problem with that?" she asked with a phony look of affront. He responded no with a laugh and went back to following Daryl, who shushed him quite loudly. Glenn looked at her then and asked her if that was why she was such a good shot. "Hell no!" she exclaimed with a laugh. Wistfully, she told him, "My dad, he never let me near his guns, ever. The guys I worked with at the autoshop, they taught me. Said they didn't like the idea of a single girl living on her own with no way to defend herself. My gun was my "graduation" present. They gave me my knives, too."

"So," he toned curiously, "where are they?"

"Atlanta," she answered shortly, eyes dark and focused straight ahead. "Those guys, _they_ were my family. A bunch of surrogate fathers, brothers, uncles; their wives and girlfriends, their kids – all them, they were my family."

"You went there to find them?"

Annie nodded and said, "Instead I ended up in a tank with Rick, then with you guys."

"I'm sorry. Maybe they made it," he told her, sounding hopeful for her sake.

"I hope so but, from the looks of the city, I doubt it. If they did, they got the hell out of dodge early on." Glenn looked at, wondering if he should ask and winced as he did, wondering if she had any other family. "None that I'm close to. All my parents relatives live out of state. So, no, I have no family."

"You have us," he told with a smile.

"Guess I do," she replied with a nod, returning his weak smile. "We're a regular Partridge Family."

"Better than the Manson Family." Annie laughed out right at that, Glenn chuckling with her. Both of them immediately shut up when Daryl and Rick waved at them, everyone sobering up and kneeling down as a camper's tent came into view.

"She could be in there," Rick stated, eying the tent anxiously.

"Could be a whole bunch of things in there." He moved forward, crossbow raised, Rick and Shane behind him. When they got closer, he motioned for the two cops to wait as he pulled out his knife and approached the tent. He peered inside on both sides but couldn't make anything out. Rick called Carol over and she rushed to his side, listening as he told her to call out to Sophia; if she was in there, her mother's voice was the first she should hear.

"Sophia? Sweetie, are you in there? Sophia, it's mommy," she called softly, her heart breaking when there was no response. "Sophia, we're all here, baby. It's mommy." Daryl crept back around to the front and slowly unzipped the tent, Shane and Rick close behind him. When he pulled back the flap, an awful stench hit him but he went inside. Everyone watched as the men coughed and approached, waiting for news. "Daryl? Daryl?"

The redneck climbed out the tent and told them, "Ain't her."

"What's in there?" Andrea asked.

"Some guy. Did what Jenner said, opted out. Ain't that what he called it?" Bells rang out and everyone looked around, hearts pounding, and bolted in the direction the noise came from. The ran through the woods, trying to figure out which why they had to go. Whoever ran the bells could have been signaling that they'd found Sophia, or it could be Sophia herself.

"Whoever it is, that noise is gonna draw walkers roaming around. We have to move quick," Annie pointed out as they ran down hill. The moment they broke the clearing, the saw a church and tiny graveyard and it sounded like the bells were coming from it but there wasn't a steeple. No steeple, no bells. Regardless, everyone ran to the church and cautiously made their way inside. Walkers were sitting in there, three of them, still in their Sunday best. At the smell of fresh meat, all of them stood up. Rick, Shane and Daryl made quick work of them and Rick screamed out for Sophia. Nothing.

"Hey, JC, takin' requests?" Daryl snapped sarcastically at the crucifix.

"I'm telling you, it's the wrong church," Shane told Rick. "Got no steeple, Rick. Got no steeple." The bells rang out again and everyone bolted outside. They were definitely at the right church but it didn't change the fact that Sophia wasn't there.

"Timer. It's on a timer," Daryl told them as Glenn shut it off. Carol told everyone she was going to go back in for a bit, voice breaking with tears. Annie squeezed Rick's shoulder, nodding reassuringly at him with a smile as they led Carl inside. She stood with them at the back wall, gently rubbing Carl's back, as Lori stayed with Carol, listening to her pray. Listening to her, it broke everyone's heart; no one deserved to go through this kind of pain.


	14. Chapter 13

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own _The Walking Dead _or any of its characters. I don't even own Annie, she belongs to Sophie, who you can find on YouTube under xSoppySofax. Read on, darlings, and enjoy!

**Chapter 13**

Everyone wandered around outside, listless. They only had so many hours of daylight left and they still had a lot of ground to cover. They hadn't even searched the other side of the creek bed yet, not to mention the long trek back to the highway. Last thing they needed was to be traveling through the woods in the dark. Rick was certain that Sophia was nearby, possibly having heard the church bells. He refused to give up, said it could be the miracle they needed. Shane walked back to group gathered around the trees and told Daryl to led the group back while him and Rick searched the area for another hour, to be thorough. Daryl didn't like the idea of splitting up, but the cops were certain.

"I wanna stay, too," Carl announced. "I'm her friend." Neither man answered, looking at each other in uncertainty. Lori squeezed her son's shoulder and told him to be careful, hugging and kissing the top of his head. Rick walked over and kissed his wife, assuring her he'd be back soon and Annie scratched the back of her head, looking away. Rick passed his wife his gun but she refused to take it.

"I'm not taking your gun and leaving you unarmed."

"Here, got a spare. Take it," Daryl told her, passing it to her. As she accept it, Andrea scoffed and rolled her eyes. Unbelievable. They'd give a gun to the cop's wife, who'd no one had ever seen fire a gun, but not her, someone with actual experience.

"I'm staying, too," Annie told Rick, following after him. Rick opened his mouth to protest but she held up her hand. "You aren't the only one who lost her out here. I'm staying," she insisted. "You don't like it, I'll just search on my own. Don't want that on your conscious, do you?"

"No, ma'am," he replied, turning to walk beside her. Shaking his head, he grinned, "Although you'd be a sight easier to find." Annie flicked the rim his hat with a gobsmacked smile at his cheeky grin as Carl tugged at her hand, leading her towards Shane. "I'll be there in a minute," he told them, walking back into the church. Annie sighed and sat on the steps of the church, Carl next to her as she rubbed his back in a comforting manner. She knew that Rick went inside to pray. She had never been a woman of faith, never put much stock in religion, and Rick hadn't struck her as the type either. All he was doing was putting more weight on his shoulders. It wasn't good for him and she didn't like seeing him like that.

As Rick stepped out of the church, Shane asked, "You get what you needed?"

"Guess I'll find out," he replied shortly, leading them off into the woods.

"Come on, bud," Annie said, patting Carl's back and following after his father and friend.

"You think we'll find Sophia?" he asked, looking up at her hopefully. Annie didn't want to say anything to get his hopes up, so she just smiled and nodded. Carl sighed, consoled for the moment and squeezed her hand once more before letting go, moving to walk behind his father while she and Shane brought up the rear. A few branches snapped ahead the group froze. Annie gently pushed Carl behind her, knife poised to fight as the men stepped up. Through the branches and trees, she smiled at the sight of a buck.

"Shane." The man looked back at Rick and saw him nodding with a smile to a dazed looking Carl. Annie lowered her knife, standing back with the men and watching Carl slowly approach the buck. He stepped on a branch and froze as the buck looked at him. It just stared at him as he moved closer, not moving, not flinching, not blinking. Carl was just in arms reach when a single shot rang out. The buck fell dead and Carl collapsed back onto the ground a split second later. "Oh, no! No, no, no! NO!" The three bolted to Carl, Rick kneeling next to his unconscious, bleeding son as Shane and Annie raised their guns towards the woods.

* * *

Rick ran across the field, his son in his arms. He was crying and panting, slowing down to adjust his grip and them picking up his pace again. Shane yelled at the hunter who'd shot Carl. The man was obese and couldn't keep up, even with Shane pointing a gun in his face and pulling him along. He told them the house he was at was four miles away, for him to ask for Hershel. Annie tried numerous times to take Carl from Rick, help him out but he refused to relinquish hold of his son. She understood that so she just ran beside him, checking over her should periodically for Shane at the man. They were already out of sight, her and Rick far ahead of them. Up ahead was a farm house, big and white.

"Was he bit?" the elderly man asked cautiously, the people on the porch standing behind him.

"Shot, by your man!" Rick told them with a sob.

"Otis?" one of the women asked in shock, everyone following the man off the porch to meet the pair.

"He said find Hershel, is that you?" Rick asked, sobbing as the man led them inside. "Help him! Help my boy!" Hershel told a woman, Patricia, that he needed his kit and another girl, a younger one, Maggie, that he needed painkillers, coagulants, and to grab everything else – clean towels, sheets, alcohol.

"Pillowcase," Hershel told him.

"Is he alive?" he asked, staring at his motionless son on the bed.

"Pillowcase, quick!" Hershel repeated, reaching for the belt Annie had strapped around Carl's tiny waist to stem the bleeding. Once it was undone, Annie took it from him and just stared at it; her belt was soaked in Carl's blood and it was all over her hands now as well. Rick asked again if his son was alive, grabbing a pillowcase like he was told; the only response he got was to fold the pillowcase and make a pad and put pressure on the wound. Patricia passed him his stethoscope and he placed it on Carl's chest, listening carefully. "I got a heartbeat," he announced, both Rick and Annie sighed shakily. "Maggie, IV," he told her and she and Patricia gently pushed the pair out of the way.

"We need some space," Maggie told Rick and Annie nodded, gently pulling Rick out of the way.

"Your name?" Hershel asked and Rick stumbled, stuttering, telling the man his name a few times. "Rick, we're gonna do everything we can, okay? You need to give us some room. Now."

"Thank you," Annie told him and pulled Rick backwards out of the room. He tried to fight her, his eyes fixed on his son but she whispered to him, "He's okay. He's in good hands, Rick. He'll be fine." Outside, she heard Shane shouting and the pair went out to meet him.

"He alive? He still alive?" the hunter, Otis, begged to know, panting and wheezing. Rick was in a daze and wiped his sweaty forehead, not that it did much good since he left a streak of blood behind.

"It's okay," Annie told him, grabbing the handkerchief Shane had in his hand and cupped Rick's face. "It's okay, you just got some blood." She tried to smile but she knew she was failing miserably, tears in her eyes, as she wiped his face clean.

"Where is he?" Shane asked and Rick's face crumbled, leading him into the house. Shane followed them to the bedroom where Hershel had an IV in Carl, set up to hang off a tall lamp.

"You know his blood type?" he asked, keeping pressure on the boy's wounds.

"A positive, same as mine," Rick told him. Annie stared at Carl, hand covering her mouth to keep from sobbing; he was so much paler than he had been a moment ago, almost white.

"And you?" Hershel asked, looking at Annie, who stared at him, frozen. "You're his mother, right? What's your blood type?"

"I'm not, I'm not his mother. Just a friend," she whispered, tears falling down her cheeks. "But I'm O negative. Universal donor, right? That means he can take my blood?"

"Yes, ma'am. That's fortunate. Don't wander far, I'm gonna need both of you," he said and looked at Otis, asking what happened. Otis was clearly distraught as he told Hershel that he'd been tracking a buck and the bullet went clean through it, hitting Carl. "The deer slowed the bullet down, which certainly saved his life. But it did not go through clean. It broke up into pieces. If I can get the bullet fragments out, I'm counting six..." Otis stood behind Rick and Annie, whispering in despair to Patricia that he never saw Carl, not until he was on the ground.

"Lori doesn't know," Rick realized. "My wife doesn't know. My wife doesn't know," he cried into his hand. Shane put his arm around Rick, whispering comfortingly in his ear while Annie sat on the other side of the bed, arm out and ready to give blood.

* * *

Annie paced the floor of the living room, listening to Rick blame himself. She couldn't take it. The man constantly put the weight of the world on his shoulders. He was telling them that Carl got shot because of him, because he wanted to keep looking for Sophia, because he'd let him come with them instead of going with his mother. Rick said it should have been him in there, lying bleeding on that bed with a gunshot. He wondered if this was why he got out of the hospital, for it all to end in that room like a sick joke. Amy, Jim, and Jacqui were dead, Sophia was missing, they weren't going to lose Carl, too. She may not have been able to save the others but she was going to save Carl. Anything less was unacceptable.

"Rick, he needs blood," Maggie told him and Rick rushed into the room, shocked that his son was awake and moving, moaning in pain.

"You, hold him down!" he said to Shane, who immediately pressed his arms across Carl's tiny body, holding him down. He shushed him while he cried and called out for his dad, screaming in pain as Hershel dug around in the wound on his side. "Almost there." Carl let out a loud scream and Annie cringed, turning her face away and covering her mouth to cover her own cries.

"STOP! YOU'RE KILLING HIM!"

"Rick, do you want him to live?" Hershel asked, never ceasing in his work.

"He needs blood," Patricia reminded him, swabbing Rick's arm and prepping a needle as Shane shouted at her to do it. Once she found a good vein, she jabbed him with the needle and set about getting him ready to start the transfusion. Rick looked over at his son, who'd gone very still and traded a look with Annie and Shane.

"He just passed out," Hershel assured them as his guests traded panicked looks. Hershel pulled fragment out, telling them, "One down, five to go." Everyone calmed down a bit then, Rick sitting beside his son after patched up the wound temporarily and checked him over. "Pressure's stable."

"Lori needs to be here," Rick remarked in a panicked dazed. "She doesn't even know what's going on. I gotta, I gotta find her, bring her back."

"You can't do that," Hershel told him.

"She's his mother! She needs to know what's happened! Her son's lying here, shot!"

"I can go get her," Annie told him. "I think I can find my way back to the highway from here, if you have a car you can lend me or something," she added, looking at Hershel.

"No, you can't go either. You gave blood, that's saps your strength. You're barely on your feet as is," he reminded her calmly. "He's gonna need more soon, and you're gonna have to stay and do just that. Boy needs you both here." Looking at Shane, Hershel told him, "They can't go more than fifty feet from this bed." Patricia helped Rick stand, Annie rushing over to steady him as he swayed.

"I'm all right," he groaned, exhausted, patting her shoulder and stumbling out of the room with Shane close behind.

"You're turn," Patricia said and Annie nodded, taking a seat in the chair Rick had occupied. She watched the woman work and then turned away, wincing when she jabbed the needle into her arm. "You okay? Maybe it's too soon be doing this again," she added, looking at Hershel.

"No! It's fine! Take whatever you need," Annie pleaded. "I just hate needles," she added, keeping her eyes fixed on Carl. "Is he gonna be okay? I mean, will he...?"

"Make it?" Hershel finished for her and she nodded, biting her lip to keep from crying. "He's out of danger for the moment, stable. But I need to remove those last five fragments. The others are deeper and, from the looks of things, there's internal bleeding."

Annie gaped at him and whispered, "You need to cut him open, don't you? If the world wasn't gone to hell, this would be a major surgery, wouldn't it?"

"It would be, yes," he answered and she groaned, clenching her eyes shit and covering her face with her free hand. "I can't get the others out with him awake because, the wrong move on his part, I could nick an artery and he'd be dead in minutes. I need to put him under, but he won't be able to breath on his own. Same result." This could not be happening.

"Isn't there anything you can do?" she shrieked at him, tears falling down her face again. "You can't just let him die!"

"I don't plan to," he assured her, rising to his feet. "You relax, I'll be back in a moment. I need to tell his father."

Annie didn't look at him as she warned, "He won't take it well."

"I wouldn't expect anyone to."

* * *

Shane went with Otis to the high school, five miles away, where a FEMA shelter had been set up. Otis knew that Hershel would need a respirator, the tube that went with it, extra surgical supplies, sutures drapes, the whole works for a major surgery. With all that, he could try try to save Carl. The school had been overrun the last time Otis had seen it but hoped it would be better. It didn't shock Annie that Otis volunteered to lead Shane to the school. As a volunteer EMT before the outbreak started, he knew exactly what to look for. He was, after all, responsible for Carl's predicament and, had Annie been in his shoes, she would have done the same thing. It was just the right thing to do. Maggie had left the farm as well, taking a horse to go find Lori and tell the rest of their group where the farm was so they could all be together. Considering the dire circumstances that surrounded them arriving at the farm, with a bunch of strangers, they were doing everything they could to keep them calm, comfortable and welcomed. Reaching over, she lightly brushed Carl's hair out of his face and smiled softly.

"Hey." Annie looked up, eyes drooping and smiling tiredly as Rick came into the room. "How's he doing?"

"Sleeping peacefully," she told him. "He hasn't stirred, not once. That's gotta be good, I think," she added, trying to keep his hopes high.

"And you?" he asked, staring at her in concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm tired but I'm fine. I can give more," she told him, nodding to the tube draining her blood. Rick pulled up a chair and sat beside her, and squeezed her free hand.

"I can't thank you enough. All you're doing for him." She squeezed his hand and looked up at him, observing him as his eyes flickered from Carl to her. "For me..."

"You've saved my life a couple times, Sheriff. Least I can do," she replied modestly and Rick's mouth twitched a little. At least he was starting to smile again.

"But you don't have to. I shouldn't ask this of you."

Annie quirked a brow and him and stated, "You didn't ask. And you certainly didn't have to." Smiling softly, she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Get out of here. I'll look after him. Go," she reiterated, seeing his hesitance. "Keep an eye out for your wife." Rick nodded his head, rising to his feet. He turned back to her once more, making sure she was fine before leaving her alone. Annie sniffed and looked at Carl, trying to keep from bursting into tears again. She didn't know when it happened, but it had. She was falling for a married man.


	15. Chapter 14

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own _The Walking Dead _or any of its characters. I don't even own Annie, she belongs to Sophie, who you can find on YouTube under xSoppySofax. Read on, darlings, and enjoy!

Sorry about the lack of update, guys. I got seriously caught up in my _Fast&Furious _story_._

**Chapter 14**

Rick and Annie had done two transfusions each for Carl and both were extremely sickly looking. Both of them were exhausted both neither were willing to rest until Carl was okay. Unfortunately for Annie, she didn't have much of a choice in the matter as she passed out in the kitchen, spilling her orange juice everywhere. Patricia helped Hershel carry her into a room near Carl's and forced an IV into her arm as well. Annie was vaguely aware of the world around her, floating in and out of consciousness. The first time she woke up, it was only for a moment and it had been to the sight of Hershel checking her vitals. She asked about Carl, as best she could in her state of delirium, but passed out again before she could hear his answer. The next time she woke up, she was much more lucid and feeling a little better. Annie blinked a couple times and saw Maggie checking on her, smiling when she saw she was awake.

"Hey! Everyone's been worried about you," she told her, helping her sitting up.

"They shouldn't bother," she remarked, trying to ignore her headache. "How long was I out? What about Carl? Is he okay? He need more blood? Did Shane and Otis get the stuff for the surgery? Did they get back in time?" she asked and Maggie waved at her to calm down.

"You've only been out a day and you needed it. Carl's gonna be just fine. It was touch and go there for awhile. Dad almost had to start the surgery without the supplies, but Shane got back just in time. Otis didn't make it," she told her and Annie told her she was sorry for the loss. Otis had been responsible for Carl but she never would have wished the man dead, especially not after volunteering to go into a hot zone to help the boy he nearly killed. Maggie also told her that she wouldn't be giving blood anytime soon, her father, Hershel's, orders. "Brought you a sandwich and some more juice, gotta get your strength back up."

"I'll be fine," she told her, moving to get off the bed but Maggie pushed her down. "I need to see him."

"No, what you need to do is eat, then you can take a shower, clean yourself up, and _then_ go see that boy." Annie stared at her, stunned at the firm tone. The young woman looked to be in her twenties, a decade younger than her and yet, here she was, ordering her around like she was her mother. The thought made Annie relent with a small smile. "Good. Eat that and then get out of your clothes, Beth'll wash 'em for you while you're in the shower." Maggie pointed to the door behind her, telling her the shower was just through there. "We look about the same size, you can borrow some of my clothes." Maggie went to a draw and started rooting through the clothes.

"This is your room?" Maggie nodded. "Thank you. I didn't mean to be a bother."

"No bother. You needed it and there's other rooms." Maggie set the clothes on the bed for her. Fresh underwear, a bra, socks, pair of capris and a loose, long sleeved shirt. It was a peach-pink color, beautiful, something Annie never normally would wear. "Those should do." Annie shook her head, telling her that she had clean clothes in her pack. The younger woman shook her head as well and said, "I saw those clothes. They're not clean and they're getting washed, too."

"You went through my pack?" she asked, annoyed at the invasion of privacy.

"You were the only one with a bag when y'all first got here," she told her with an obvious tone. "Just before Shane got back, when it got real bad, I looked through it, thought there might be something in there Dad could use for Carl."

"Wish there had been something useful," Annie sighed, but Maggie assured her that what had been in the kit had been put to its best use. "Luckily it all worked out. Thanks, again." Maggie nodded, telling her to just leave the dishes and dirty clothes on the bed, she'd be back to get them in about ten minutes.

Annie scarfed down the food in record time, happy to have something that wasn't canned in her stomach. She winced getting undressed, remembering all the strenuous activity that she'd done the past couple days. All the running since they'd left the CDC, sliding and hiding under a car when the herd past, chasing after Sophia in the woods, killing those walkers, trying to track her down and she certainly hadn't slept well at all that night, then they'd gone back at dawn to hunt for the little girl again and they'd been running around, then they had to run again, four miles, all the way to the farm. Standing under the hot water, Annie let all the events of the previous day wash over her. She really had needed the sleep and it felt good to take a shower, even if she was crying under the stream. Funny, the first shower she had since the outbreak, she'd been laughing in joy. Now look at her...

* * *

Apparently Carl had, had a seizure because his brain wasn't getting enough blood. Rick risked going back into a coma and dying to give his son the blood he needed. But, like Maggie had said, Carl was fine and, with the exception of Otis' death, everything turned out okay. Life for a life and all that, Annie figured, not that the sentiment would do Patricia any good. Walking downstairs, clean and hair dried, she looked around for a sign of anyone. Reaching the bottom step, Annie saw the house was empty and a rush of fear flooded her. Hurrying over to Carl's room, she stepped inside and was immediately pulled into a tight hug by Rick.

"You okay?" he asked, pulling back and looking her over. "Maggie said you were up but didn't want us disturbing you."

"I'm fine. I'm fine. How is he?" she asked, Rick leading her over to the bedside where Hershel was checking Carl. He was still unconscious but he looked so much better, he looked alive.

"Fever's gone down," Hershel told them.

"Thank you." Annie tore her eyes from Carl and saw Lori sitting on the other side of the bed, looking at her. "Thank you." Annie nodded at her, looking back at Carl as he shifted around and woke up, asking about Sophia, if she was okay.

"Fine. She's fine," Rick lied

"Rest, we'll be right here. Okay?" his mother told him.

"Okay." Carl closed his eyes, going back to sleep. The sound of engines filtered through the house and T-Dog came in – when had he gotten to the house, Annie wondered – telling them the others had arrived. Annie took one last look at Carl before following the man out to the porch.

"Gave all of us a scare, girl," he scolded. "Glenn and I got here, you were passed out, looked half dead."

"Well, I'm okay now. How's your arm?" she asked, nodding to the stitches.

"That woman, Patricia? She stitched me. Said Merle's clap saved my life." Annie stared at him, confused, waiting for further explanation. "Don't ask."

Their group gathered on Hershel's front lawn, asking about Carl. Lori told them that he'd pull through thanks to Hershel, his people and Shane. It would've been a lost cause had it not been for Shane. When asked how it happened, Rick explained that it had been a hunting accident, just a stupid accident. Everyone walked over to the far side of the far where Hershel's people had set up a huge pile of rocks. A grave for Otis. Hershel said a prayer but asked that Shane speak for him. Patricia begged him to tell them, tell her, his final moments, needing to know her husband's death had meaning. Annie watched Shane as he told the tale about how he was limping and they were down to pistols. He said Otis told him to go ahead while he covered the rear and, when he looked back...well, he left it unsaid that he'd died. Shane praised Otis, telling them that the man had saved both him and Carl and that his death certainly did have meaning, placing a rock on the pile.

"How long's this girl been lost?" Hershel asked as he gathered with everyone around the Cherokee.

"This'll be day three," Rick told him. Maggie came up behind them with a map, telling them it was the county survey map of the area of terrains and elevations. "This is perfect. We can finally get this thing organized. We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams."

"Where do we start though? Back at the creek?" Annie asked.

"Not you two. Not today," Hershel announced. "Rick, you gave three units of blood and, Annie, you gave two and passed out. You were unconscious for a whole day. Neither one of you would be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out. And your ankle," he continued, looking at Shane, "push it now, you'll be laid up a month. No good to anybody."

"Guess it's just me," Daryl said, looking over the map. "I'ma head back to the creek, work my way from there." Rick nodded, accepting this unfortunate news, but Shane wasn't so easy. He insisted on going out, taking one of the cars back to the highway and search for her there.

"Tomorrow then, we'll start doing this right," Rick told them.

"That means we can't have our people out there with just knives," Shane explained reasonably. "Need the gun training we been promising."

"I'd prefer you not carrying guns on my property," the veterinarian told them. "We've made it so far without turning this into an armed camp.

"All due respect," Shane told him, "we get a crowd of those things wandering in here..."

"We're guests here. This is your property," Rick told Hershel with a nod, "and we _will _respect that." Rick gave his partner a pointed looked, setting his Python on the hood of the car. Annie did the same with hers and, after gritting his teeth, Shane followed suit. "First things first: set camp, find Sophia."

"I hate to be the one to ask," Shane began with a sigh, "but somebody's got to. What happens if we find her and she's bit? I think we should all be clear on how we handle that."

Rick paused, looking at him before lowering his head and telling everyone, "You do what has to be done."

"And her mother?" Maggie wondered, looking at them in shock. "What do you tell her?"

"The truth," Andrea answered shortly. Maggie looked like she wanted to protest but her father shook his head at her.

"I'll gather and secure all the weapons, make sure no one's carrying, find a practice range off sight," Shane announced. "I _do_ request one rifle for anyone on lookout. Dale's got experience."

Noticing Hershel's hesitance, Rick told him, "Our people would feel safer, less inclined to carry a gun." Eventually, the man nodded at the request and he was thanked for it. Maggie asked them about the stuff they brought, the antibiotics, which was news to Annie, asking them if they had anymore medical supplies.

"Just what you've seen," Andrea told her, walking off to follow Shane.

"You already used what you could out of my kit?" Annie asked and Maggie nodded.

"We're short already. I should make a run into town." Rick was worried, asking if she wasn't seriously going to go to the same place Shane had gone. "No, there's a pharmacy just a mile down the road. I've done it before." Annie walked over to Glenn, tapping him on the shoulder as Rick explained he was their go-to-town expert.

"You feel like making a run?" she asked.

"Um, sure. Sure. When?" he asked.

"Whenever she's ready," she answered, nodding at Maggie. "She says she's done runs before, but we'd all feel better if you went with her. Just as a precaution. And, if you could grab stuff to restock my first aid kit, I'd appreciate it." Patting his back, she walked over to the porch as Rick was making sure Daryl would be okay out on his own, that his other plans fell through. He brushed roughly past Annie, making her glare after him and shake her head. She continued towards Rick, who was speaking to Hershel about how they could set up camp further from the house but Hershel said that wasn't necessary.

"I don't say this easily, Rick. We don't normally take in strangers. I can't have your people thinking this permanent. Once you find this girl and your boy's fit for travel, I expect you'll move on. We need to be clear on that."

As Hershel headed back into his house, Annie walked over and asked, "Trouble in paradise already?"

"He's just setting down the ground rules. Wants to make sure we know them," he assured her.

"You mean make sure _you _know them," she retorted. "You're our leader, he's theirs. That's why he spoke to you. Not Shane, not Daryl, not even Dale. You."

"I can understand him not wanting us to stay," he sighed. "Can't say I blame him. I wouldn't be so trusting of new people myself."

"You trusted me and Morgan," she reminded him.

"That was different," he insisted and she laughed, sitting down on the porch steps.

"When you met Morgan, you saw him kill what you thought was a man in street and I threatened to slice you up. You were tied to a bed, delirious, scared out of your mind – don't deny it! – and we were squatting in your neighbors home," she stated. "What must've gone through your mind. Probably thought were a couple of crazed murderers on the run and you were next on our list." Rick laughed, taking off his hat and nodding his head as he sat next to her.

He admitted, "Thought may have crossed my mind."

"But you stayed with us. You put a lot of faith in us. You believed us when we told about what had been going on. You trusted us not to shoot you in the back."

"Or stab me," he joked.

Annie laughed, "Or stab you. Point is, not everyone is trusting like you. We have no idea what Hershel and his family have gone through since the outbreak started. Maybe they trusted some group of poor souls before us and got screwed over. We'll never know. And we should just be grateful that he decided to help Carl at all, 'cause he sure as hell didn't have to. All that blood," she told him with a frown, "could've drawn any walkers in the immediate area straight to his doorstep. He took a _big_ risk taking us in. And he's taking a bigger one letting us stick around. Anyone that complains about that needs to just shut the hell up and count our blessings. We got lucky, can't ask for more than that."

"How is it you always seem to know exactly what to tell me?" he wondered.

Shrugging, she replied, "Just lucky, I guess."

"Do you think I should ask him to reconsider? See if he'll let us stay?" he asked honestly. "He doesn't know what it's like out there. This place, this farm, it's so serene, untouched. If he knew what it was like out there, he wouldn't ask us to leave."

"You don't know that," she told him with a shake of her head. Rick sighed and looked at the ground, gripping his hat tight.

"I don't want the responsibility, I sure didn't ask for it, but everyone looks to me for answers." He let that hang there, not wanting to vocalize that they wanted answers he didn't always have. "Everyone but you..."

Annie sighed and ran a through her hair, telling him, "I can't make this decision for you, Rick. I wish I could, but I can't. I don't have all the answers, despite what you think, and neither do you, despite what everyone else thinks. I get it. It's not fair, the role you've been forced into but it's what you got." Rising to her feet, she squeezed his shoulder. "When in doubt, trust your gut. It's the one instinct we have that never lies." Later that day, she saw Rick sitting on the porch again, this time with Hershel. It seemed he decided to ask the man to reconsider letting them stay after all.


	16. Chapter 15

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own _The Walking Dead _or any of its characters. I don't even own Annie, she belongs to Sophie, who you can find on YouTube under xSoppySofax. Read on, darlings, and enjoy!

See if you can find the LOST reference in here ;)

**Chapter 15**

Annie walked over to the house later that day, intent on seeing Carl, and found Rick there. The moment she was close enough, he smiled and pulled her into a deep hug. He told her the good news, that Hershel was going to reconsider letting their people stay so long as they followed the rules he set for them. It took some time to convince him, even going so far as to plainly state that Hershel owed it to them after the debt Otis paid. They had his word he would reconsider, that was enough. For the moment, at least. Annie stayed with Rick the rest of the night, hovering in the door way, watching Carl. She had yet to see the boy awake and, despite everyone telling her that he had been in and out of consciousness, that he would be just fine, she wouldn't be convinced of that until she saw him awake and speaking himself. She felt like a mother. It was a strange feeling, but it was how else was she meant to describe fearing for and hoping a child she genuinely cared would live? Eventually, he did stir into consciousness and smiled at his dad.

"Carl," he began "I told you something earlier today about Sophia." His son told him he already knew, that his mother had told him the truth. "Here I was getting ready to confess." Staring into his son's eyes, he honestly told him, "I didn't wanna lie. I just didn't wanna worry you. Stupid excuse, but it's all I got."

"It's okay. Do you think we'll find her?" he asked.

"I know we will." Looking over his shoulder, Annie nodded and he sighed. "Well, I don't..._know,_ but...I _truly_ believe it."

"You look tired," his son observed.

"I _am_ tired." Carl looked at Annie and told her the same thing. She just smiled and told him she was just fine now that he awake.

"Hey, I'm like you now," he told his father. "We've both been shot. Isn't that weird?"

"I think your mother would rather hear we got the same eyes so let's just keep that between us," Rick chuckled, his son smiling.

"Don't let him spoil this for you, Carl," Annie chimed with a grin. "You got a cool scar now, cool story to go with it."

"Don't encourage him," Rick warned playfully and she grinned at him. Turning back to his son, Rick held up his hat. "Since you're in the club now, you get to wear the hat, didn't you know?" Carl smiled at his father, beaming as the Sheriff's hat was placed on his head. The trio had a good laugh at how big it was on his, but Rick told him they'd pad the rim the following day to make it fit him better. Carl asked him if he would miss it. "Maybe you'll let me borrow it from time to time. Sleep now."

"Okay. Love you, dad."

"I love you."

Carl tipped his new hat at her, promising, "I'm the new Sheriff. I'm gonna keep everyone safe."

"I feel sorry for anyone that tries to mess with us," Annie told him, walking over and kissing his forehead. "I'm _so_ glad you're okay," she whispered, pulling back to smile at him.

The two bid each other goodnight and Annie followed Rick out of the room. When he went into his and Lori's, she lingered in the doorway, watching Rick take off his Sheriff uniform. He delicately placed both that and his badge in a drawer, looking at his wife in the mirror as she helped him take off his shirt. She couldn't hear their conversation but she saw him close the drawer and look up at the mirror. Lori was kissing his shoulder and Rick stared into the mirror. His eyes found Annie and he held her gaze a moment, watching her intently. What went through his mind as she stood there, watching him, she should couldn't even begin to guess. Ducking her head, Annie left the doorway and walked into Maggie's room. T-Dog had Jacqui's tent, cot and sleeping bag that's she'd left behind in the RV set up for her outside. Initially, she'd worried that it would be weird to use the deceased woman's things, worried that everyone would be upset or awkward about it, but T-Dog just told her that Jacqui would want them put to good use and Annie was the one person in their group who didn't have sleeping arrangements. He was okay with it, that mattered more to her than anything else considering he had been closest to the woman. Annie would go to her new quarters but, first, she needed a moment alone and she certainly wasn't going to get that around the campfire. Closing the door behind her, Annie leaned back against it and stared up at the ceiling. Her eyes burned and she clenched them shut, trying not to cry. What the hell was she doing? He's married, she told herself, he's married, he's married, he's married...

* * *

Annie woke up to find her own clothes resting next to her. Maggie must have returned them or Beth, her sister. Even her belt, that had been soaked in Carl's blood, was clean. Making a mental note to thank them later, she changed back into her own clothes and stepped out of the tent with a sore back and an ache in her heart. She set about searching the perimeter and checking on everyone else, anything to keep her mind off her growing feels for Rick. She'd checked in on Carl briefly, finding him sleeping peacefully and went back outside. Andrea was with T-Dog, cleaning Dale's tools while Dale worked on the RV some more. Glenn was sitting on the porch, fiddling with a guitar Dale had found for him on the highway, waiting for someone; who Annie didn't bother to ask. Carol had already started doing the laundry and happily took Maggie's clothes to clean up. When Annie asked her where her usual laundry partner was, it turned out that Lori was sleeping in. Annie couldn't help but shake her head and scoff as the woman finally emerged from her tent. Rick's wife did two things, cook and laundry, and she hadn't cooked this morning and the majority of the laundry was done already because she'd decided to sleep in. Everyone in the group had been having a rough time of it lately, but they still managed to be up and moving and doing their chores like always.

"Morning, guys. Let's get going. Got a lot of ground to cover." Annie sighed, trailing after Andrea and T-Dog as they joined Rick and Shane, hovering over the map Maggie had given them. "All right, everyone's getting new search grids today. If she made as far as the farm house Daryl found, she might've gone further east than we've been so far."

"I'd like to help." Everyone turned at looked at the young teen of Hershel's group, Jimmy, Beth's boyfriend. "I know the area pretty well and stuff." Rick, stunned at the offer, asked him if Hershel was okay with his helping them. "Yeah. Yeah, uh, he said I should ask you."

"All right then, thanks." Shane, sitting sideways in the passenger seat of the Cherokee, told them that the farm house Daryl had found didn't scream Sophia to him, that anybody could've been holed up in there.

"Anybody includes Sophia," Annie remarked shortly, glaring at the back of his shaved head.

"Whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than yay high," Daryl added, motioning with his hand just how high. Sophia's height. Andrea told him that it was a good lead, Rick adding that they might be able to pick up her trail again. As Dale walked over, setting the duffel of guns on the hood, Daryl told them that he'd borrow a horse and get a birds eye view of the whole grid. "If she's up there, I'll spot her."

"Good idea," T-Dog told him. Looking at Daryl, he sardonically added, "Maybe you'll see your chupacabra up there, too." Confused, Rick echoed the word.

"Oh, you never heard this?" Dale asked offhandedly, looking through the duffel. "The first night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of a time when he went squirrel hunting and he saw a chupacabra." Annie opened her mouth to say something but immediately shut it; best to just not say anything on that matter. Jimmy chuckled though and Daryl glared at him.

"What you braying at, jackass?"

Jimmy just looked at Daryl and asked, as if Daryl was stupid, "So you believe in a blood sucking dog?"

"You believe dead people walking around?" the redneck retorted with a sneer.

"Actually, Jimmy, a chupacabra's a reptile-like cryptid, not a dog. It sucks the blood of goats, other farm animals and the like," Annie told him nonchalantly, taking back her Beretta from Dale with a smile.

"You believe in that kind of stuff?" Rick asked, quirking a smile at her.

"The dead are walking around and real, why not chupacabras or Nessie?" she retorted, checking her mag before securing it in her waist band. Dale set a rifle on the hood and Jimmy immediately reached for it, but Rick stopped him.

"Whoa, you ever fire one before?" he asked the teen, taking it from him. Jimmy just told him that if he was going out with them that he wanted one. Obviously, the answer was no.

"Yeah, and people in hell want Slurpees," Daryl told him, shouldering his crossbow and walking away. Shane rose to his feet, telling Jimmy that he could come with him and some of the others the next day for gun training, since he and Rick were both certified instructors.

"For now, he can come with us," Andrea told him, Shane replying that he was hers to babysit.

"Hey, Dale, where'd this come from?" she asked, holding up a rifle she'd never seen before. "You find it on the highway or something?"

"It's Otis'," Shane told her and walked away. Annie set the rifle down slowly, confused as to how the dead man's rifle got mixed up in their duffel.

* * *

Annie was forced to go searching with Rick and Shane. Rick tried to make her stay behind, claiming she wasn't well enough to go yet but she'd shot that argument down immediately, telling him that if she wasn't fit to go, than neither was he. Especially, since he'd given more blood than her. She even tried to convince Rick to let her go on her own, that she'd be just fine but he didn't want to risk it. Daryl got to go on his own, she'd argued, but Daryl was an experienced tracker had been his reply. Shane, surprisingly, had agreed that it wasn't a good idea, that there was no one to watch her back and, since T-Dog and Andrea had Jimmy, another group of three would make things even. So there she was, trekking through the woods with the two cops. Both were silent, the only sounds being their feet breaking twigs, crunching leaves and Shane hammering markers into trees. It was awkward, to say the least. Eventually, Rick started asking Shane who the girl that worked at the Dairy Queen was. Shane seemed to know where the conversation was heading but Annie had been confused, then ill, that Rick reminded his friend that he knew asking about all the women he'd slept with in high school was the only sure fire way to get him to talk.

"I'd really rather not hear all about Shane's exploits, if you don't mind," Anne stated, shaking her head as she walked ahead of them.

"Maryann," Shane answered with a smirk. "I told you about her?"

"In _excruciating_ detail," was Rick's reply.

"Oh, my God," she muttered in disgust, rolling her eyes.

"Excruciating, my ass! You used to _live _for those details, back in the day!" Rick excused himself, claiming he was impressionable and may have been living vicariously through his friend. The idea amused Annie, she had to admit. Rick was very interesting, to her at least. Of course, she could have been biased, given how adventurous their time together since they'd met had been. "Well, why wouldn't you? With my impressive list of accomplishments. I was an artist in his prime. A protege."

"You mean prodigy," Rick corrected.

"Maybe. Prodigy what you call a young high school stud who bangs thirty year olds on the regular?" The two shared a laugh, Rick asking him, believing Shane was full of shit, just what thirty year old he'd been banging back in school. "PE teacher."

"Mr. Daniel?" Rick retorted sarcastically. Shane proudly told him that he meant Mrs. Kelly. "The girl's volleyball coach? Wasn't she married?" Shane just scoffed and laughed in response, Annie shaking her head at him; the man really had no shame. Shameless Shane Walsh. "You know what I just remembered? Why I _never_ asked you about this stuff!" Rick laughed.

Sarcastically, Shane asked, "Why don't we talk about _your_ high school love life then, huh?"

"Well, that's a _short_ conversation. It may even already be over."

"That right? There was Holly, right? Nope, that was me, too!" The two men shared a hearty laugh and Annie gritted her teeth. Not out of jealous; what did she have to be jealous about really? She'd be insane to be jealous over something over ten year ago. No, what annoyed her was all the noise they were making. Seriously, in a city full of walkers, they'd be quiet as Helen Keller but in the woods? They acted like they were on an annual boys camping trip. "Then there was Sheila, that was one you _lied_ to me about."

"I never lied about Sheila," Rick insisted. "I just, I just got mixed up about what the bases meant." He shuffled on, laughing in embarrassment as Shane patted hard on his gun, telling him that a home run was usually sexual intercourse. "Yeah, I realize that now," he replied sarcastically.

"I think what you did was a ground roll double or something," Shane teased.

"I'm aware of the judge's ruling."

"Can we focus on what we're out here for, please?" Annie snapped at them, scoffing and shaking her head as she went back to walking. "Christ, like a couple of children," she muttered.

"Oh, come on, Annie," Shane called after her. "You telling me you don't have an sordid stories from back in the day?"

"No!" she immediately threw over her shoulder, offended at Shane's insinuation. But then she bit her lip and looked at the ground. "Well, actually, there was one time." Shane laughed, telling her to tell them about it. She remained silent, letting that be her refusal, but he told her turnabout was fair play; she knew some of his and Rick's stories, only fair she shared.

"Shane," Rick warned. Annie stopped walking and whipped around to face them.

"Boy's locker room," she answered easily. "In the showers. After our ball practices." Neither man said anything for a moment and she quirked a brow at them. She guessed they didn't have any remarks about her exploit and, thinking that they would focus on the situation at hand, she turned and started walking again.

"I guess he knew what all the bases were." Behind her, Rick snorted with a small laugh at Shane's statement but quickly ducked his head when she glared at him. Shane, however, kept his eyes focused on her and both their shoulders were shaking with laughter.

"Yes. He did," she replied. "James Ford, all-state, led us to the championships that year, best hitter in the county. Didn't last long though."

"Guess he didn't know that much after all," Shane muttered and Rick covered his mouth. Annie glared, mouth a firm line, unamused as Shane smirked at her.

"The relationship, not the sex," she corrected. "The sex was fantastic but, I don't know, I guess he preferred a cheerleader's water bra to a girl who could throw a better curve ball than him," she bragged. "One he could never hit, I might add." Turning around, a satisfied smirk on her face, Annie continued on and she heard the men behind her.

"Shouldn't be talking about this stuff," Shane told them, solemnly. "That life, it's gone and everyone in it. Sheila, Maryann, Mrs. Kelly, James. We're like a bunch of old folk, all the people in our stories are dead."

Rick sighed and said, "Well, we can't just forget 'em."

"The hell we can't," Shane argued, shaking his head in frustration. "It's hard enough accepting what's happened without digging up the past. I'll tell you what it is, the nostalgia. It's like a drug, keeps you from seeing things the way they are and that's a danger. You got people depending on you."

"What, you think I don't know that?" From their previous conversation, Annie knew that Rick was all to aware of the fact that people depended on him. A little too much, in her opinion.

"I don't know. What are we doing?" he asked, making all of them stop and look at him. "Got every able body at your disposal out scouring these woods, looking for a little girl we both know is likely dead."

"How the hell can you say that?" Annie gasped, glaring at him while Rick asked him if he thought they should abandon the search.

"That's not my call, is it?" Shane posed, sounding a bit resentful, as he brushed past Annie.

"I'm asking," Rick said, hurrying after him. "I'm asking!"

"Survival, Rick. It means making hard decisions but you, you got this knack, man," he scoffed. "You spread us thinner and thinner. Trying to save lives here and you're out saving cats from trees!"

"Jesus Christ, Shane, just shut the hell up!" Annie shouted at him.

Rick shoved the other man a little, offended, asking, "Is that what you think Sophia is, a cat in a tree?"

"Hey, man, don't do that. Don't twist my words." Annie scoffed and shook her head, sneering at the man. There was no twist of words, not by her hearing at least. "How many times we get called up to look for a missing child, man? You got seventy-two hours. Seventy-two hours and, after that, you're looking for a body. And that was before! I mean, you honestly think we're just gonna find Sophia alive?" he asked skeptically.

"Are you that sure we won't?" Rick returned.

"We being completely honest?"

"Oh, I'm counting on you to be," he practically growled.

"It's math, man. Alive or not, Sophia, she only matters to the degree in which she don't drag the rest of us down." Annie shook her head and shoved past him as Rick looked at him in disgust. "Thought you wanted honesty?" Shane punched a tree and told Rick, "If we just moved on, man, we'd be halfway to Fort Benning right now and Carl wouldn't of gotten shot! And you said so yourself but we're out here, we're risking lives! Your own son almost died! Man, Otis, he paid that bill. What the hell are we still doing here?"

"If it was Carl missing, I bet you'd feel different," Annie accused and Shane stepped toward her but Rick pushed him away.

"I had her in my hands, Shane. She looked right into my eyes and she trusted me. I-I failed her. If I hadn't, she wouldn't be out here. _I _think she's still alive and I'm not gonna write her off." Shane scoffed at the both of them and looked to the left, shaking his head.

"That's blue," he said, nodding to the blue rag nailed to a tree. "That's Andrea and T-Dog."

"Looks like we wandered into their grid..."


	17. Chapter 16

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own _The Walking Dead _or any of its characters. I don't even own Annie, she belongs to Sophie, who you can find on YouTube under xSoppySofax. Read on, darlings, and enjoy!

**Chapter 16**

The rest of their scouting having been spent in complete silence. Annie fell behind both men, knowing she'd hit Shane if she was close enough. Rick looked back at her from time to time. She passed it off as him making sure she was still with them, safe, just being a good leader but the back of her mind hoped it was something more. When they got back to the farm, both Rick and Annie passed off their guns to Shane for him to put them away in the RV. Annie stopped at her tent, grabbing her bottle of water and draining it as Beth walked by. Before the teen could move on, Annie stopped her and thanking her for washing her clothes and for letting her stay in the house while she recovered. Beth has assured her it was no problem, that it was the right thing to do, and asked where she could find Rick. Letting her curiosity get the best of her, she asked what she needed him for and she said that her father wanted talk to Rick. Nodding slowly, a feeling of dread crept in and she pointed behind her, where Rick was speaking with his wife.

Annie checked her other bottles and canteen, all were empty again. Picking them up, along with the iodine in her med kit to purify the water, she walked over to the well that was still good and set about refilling them. As she walked by the RV though, she heard Glenn telling Dale his theory that when women cycles lined up they all got "super crazy hormonal". She chuckled, wanting to tell him that he was, in fact, right but kept moving on. Being on a girl's softball team, all the girls period linked up like a bunch of NASA satellites and it was three to seven days of hell until it finally ended. Pumping the well, she held one bottle after another underneath. Once everything was filled, she pulled the iodine out of her pants pocket and unscrewed the eyedropper and squeezed three drops into each container. She remembered, in high school, how she'd been surprised to learn that iodine, of all things, could purify water so long as it was the proper kind.

"I can see you there, you know," she announced, smiling at Rick over her shoulder.

"I wasn't hiding," he assured her, walking over. "Just didn't want to disrupt you from what you're doing."

Putting the iodine away, she pulled out the bottle of vitamin c tablets and replied, "It's not like it's a secret."

"Hard to tell with you sometimes." Rick sighed and told her about his discussion with Hershel. She listened patiently, shaking her bottles and canteen to let the tablets dissolve; iodine was fine for purifying but it made the water taste like shit. Hence the tablets. Apparently, Daryl took a horse without permission – and it was missing on top of that – and Jimmy had lied about having Hershel's blessing to go with them. It seemed obvious to her that Hershel wanted to set clear boundaries between his people and their own and she told Rick just that.

"Despite all his talk about reconsidering letting us stay, he sure does seem to act like we aren't going to be sticking around," she added, placing her foot on the pipe of the well and bending over to tie her loose shoe string. Looking her over shoulder, she had been about to tell Rick more but caught him staring at her backside. When he noticed he'd been caught, he looked away. "Are you checking me out?" she asked incredulously, a tiny thrill going through her body. Rick just cleared his throat and shook his head, silently denying he'd been doing any such thing. "There's no harm in it," she assured him, straightening up with a shy smile, "just tone it down"

"WALKER! WALKER!" Annie whipped around at Andrea's shouted and both of them rushed over to the RV. They couldn't really see it clearly, but Andrea was right, there was a walker, coming out of the woods.

"Just the one?" Rick asked and Andrea picked up the binoculars.

"I bet I can nail it from here," she told him, picking up the rifle, as Glenn ran to get his machete and T-Dog his bat. Just to be safe, Annie put her hand on the butt of her knife but didn't remove it.

"No! No, Andrea, put the gun down!" Rick ordered as Shane came out with his pickax, telling her she best let them handle it. "Shane, hold up! Hershel wants to deal with walkers."

"What for, man, we got it covered?"

With that, Shane walked off into the field, T-Dog and Glenn not far behind. Rick cursed under his breath, running into the RV and grabbing his Python before bolting after them, tapping Annie's arm, signaling for her to follow. She didn't hesitate to pull out her knife and run after him. As they all got closer, Annie saw that it wasn't a walker at all, it was Daryl. He was sweating, filthy, a dirty, disgusting mess. While that wasn't anything new with the group, Daryl especially, this was a whole new level of dirty. He looked like he'd taken a bath in the dirt or something, an image of Pig-Pen flashing into her mind for a fleeting moment. He was dragging his crossbow behind him, limping, and was covered in blood, too. There was a wound on his left side that soaked his tank in blood, not to mention the blood around his mouth. What the hell had happened to him?

"That's the third time you pointed that thing at my head," Daryl growled at Rick. "You gonna pull the trigger or what?" A gunshot rang out and Daryl flew backwards onto the ground.

"NO!" Rick shouted, turning around to look at the RV in the distance. "No! No!" Rick leaned over him and checked to make sure he was alive. Daryl's eyes were open, he was breathing and looking at him in shock.

"I was kidding," Daryl groaned as Rick and Shane picked him up, the others sighing in relief.

"Oh, my God!" Andrea cried when she saw it was Daryl, running faster to them. "Oh, my God! Is he dead?"

"Unconscious, you just grazed him," Rick assured her although his tone clearly said he was less than pleased that she had disobeyed his order.

"Well, look at him! What the hell happened? He's wearing _ears_," Glenn stammered, pointing to the necklace with four ears around Daryl's neck. Annie saw the others from camp approaching and quickly ripped the necklace off.

"Let's keep that to ourselves," she stated, shoving the necklace down the front of Glenn's shirt. He protested and groaned about it but she put his hand over his mouth. "Shut up! We'll bury 'em or something later! Just shut up for now!"

"Guys!" T-Dog called from behind them. "Isn't this Sophia's?" everyone turned around and saw him holding up a doll. They all took it in and realized he was right, that was Sophia's doll, the same one that Morales' little girl had given her.

* * *

That night, everyone had a real dinner. Lori and Carol had made dinner in Hershel's kitchen, with Patricia's help, to thank the family that had taken them in and done so much for them. Glen sat at what Annie jokingly called the "kiddie table" with Maggie, Beth and Jimmy while everyone else was at the main table. Hershel sat at the head, of course; the only ones not in attendance were Carl and Daryl, both of whom were on strict bed rest. Dinner was a silent affair. Annie took a seat between T-Dog and Shane, although she would've preferred not to sit next to the cop at all. Not after everything he'd said out in the woods. Across the table, Rick was glaring at Shane but when he looked at her, his gaze softened. She sent him a small smile behind the rim of her glass, which he returned, and her eyes flickered to Lori, who was staring at her. Annie immediately focused on her food.

"Does anyone know how to play guitar?" Glenn asked, looking at the main table with a smile. "Dale found a cool one." Hershel stared at him and no one answered. "Somebody's gotta know how to play!" he laughed.

Patricia, staring down at her plate answered, "Otis did."

"Yes, and he was very good, too," Hershel told her. Glenn's good mood effectively died and he turned back to his meal in silence. The rest of the meal continued in silence and, when the awkward affair was finally over, everyone dispersed. Everyone went to bed, Rick and Lori going into Carl's room. Annie moved to the porch, sitting on the railing and looking up at the clear sky in awe.

"What are you doing out here?" She looked over her shoulder and saw Rick standing in the doorway. "It's not safe to be alone after dark, not even here. You know that."

"I'm sorry, I just..." Sighing, she nodded to the sky and told him, "I haven't seen this many stars since I was a kid." Rick walked over and leaned against the railing next to her, looking up at the perfection above them. "Some kids had fairy-tales for bedtime stories. I had Andromeda," she told him, pointing out the constellation. "And Orion. Sagittarius. Hercules. Draco," she listed, pointing out each constellation to him with a smile.

"You said you grew up on a farm?" he asked curiously.

Nodding, she told him, "My farm wasn't all that different from this one, even the house. Same size, even had the same big wrap around porch. All the other kids drew on their sidewalks in chalk, I had that porch. Always pissed my dad off, too, let me tell ya." Rick chuckled at that and she smiled wanly. "They always planned on having more kids, that's what my dad said, but mom died before they had the chance."

"How, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Spider bite, if you can believe it. Brown Recluse. I was too little to remember but Dad said that she got bite and, by the time the doctors realized what it was, it was too late. Turns out there was a nest in the barn." Her eyes vaguely drifted over to Hershel's barn. It looked so much like the one she'd grown up around, one that looked beautiful in the old pictures but dilapidated and haunted in her memory. "He never let me near it and he never went in there again."

"Your father sounds like he was smart man," he told her and Annie scoffed.

"_You're_ a smart man, Rick. My Dad, he was..." She took and deep breath. "Well, he wasn't like you. He was always telling me how much like my mother I was. How I looked like her, sounded like her, acted like her. I wasn't his daughter. I was his wife's ghost," she whispered in a detached tone.

Rick looked up at her sullen face and hesitantly asked, "Annie, your father, did he...?"

"What, hurt me?" she finished for him. At his nod, she shook her head and looked back at the stars. "No. Not really. He was just...ugh, just so _damn_ controlling. He didn't let me do after school activities, not even dances or field trips, said he needed me close to the farm." Chuckling at the memory, she told him, "When I stayed after for softball tryouts, he reamed into me something fierce. Then, when I made the team, I had to fight tooth and nail for him to let me keep it. I almost died of shock when he did."

"He must've had his reasons," he guessed.

"I'm sure he did, too. Didn't mean I had to agree with 'em. I wasn't an easy teen either, gotta admit. I started skipping classes, didn't do my assignments, got a lot of detentions, even got suspended once. Eventually, I just stopped going." Annie went on to tell him that her grades had been so bad that no college would accept her. "Soon as I could, I packed up and left and he didn't try to stop me. Said I disappointed him. So I went to Atlanta, the big city," she scoffed. Rolling her eyes, she laughed and told him, "Hell, I didn't know anything about cars until I started at that autoshop! Learned how to take one apart and put it back together, though. Learned how to shoot." Annie bit her lip and looked at the ground, shaking her head at herself. "I did whatever I could to not be like my mother, just to spite him."

Rick gently squeezed her shoulder before rubbing her back, "I'm sure he loved you, Annie."

"Oh, yeah," she scoffed, "he loved me so much that he never returned my calls or wrote me, never came to visit. Nothing. I didn't even know he died until the hospital called." Looking at Rick, she plainly told him, "My father wasn't an easy man to love but, for all his faults, I _did_ love him. My biggest regret is not telling him, not being there for him. I haven't thought about him in years but, being here, seeing the stars..." She looked back up and took another deep breath, releasing it to try and relax herself. "It just brings it all back. I have a lot of bad memories about my father, but there _are_ some good ones."

"Like Andromeda," Rick replied and Annie laughed, a stray tear falling down her cheek.

"Like Andromeda," she echoed, smiling at him. Hesitantly, Rick reached up and brushed the tear away. His hand lingered on her cheek, feeling her soft skin, her warmth, holding her there and staring into her big green eyes. Annie smiled weakly at him and ducked her head, causing Rick to drop his hand back to the railing. Clearing her throat, Annie hopped off the railing and wiped her face. "Good night, Rick."

"Good night, Annie," he replied, but she was already walking back to her tent.


End file.
